


Never letting go.

by Audrey2



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapping, M/M, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2019-11-15 00:57:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 65,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18063512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Audrey2/pseuds/Audrey2
Summary: After eight years in his captor's bunker Dirk Strider is finally returned to his brother's care. However, Dirk can't even remember another person's touch let alone the 14 year old who'd first cradled him as a baby and Dave can't remove the guilt of losing the child in the first place.So how will the two continue now that they've been given a second chance?





	1. A Family Reunion

The child's name was Dirk, though he didn't know that. That wasn't because he was dumb, though. No, quite to the contrary, Dirk was amazingly smart, not that he'd know that. 

Social skills weren't really the child's thing, to put it simply. He vaguely knew about the concept of other humans. He didn't quite get it, but the old VHS tapes lying around showed other things like him. He read about people, about humans. He read a lot, but he knew a lot of what he read, a lot of what he saw wasn't actually real. 

However, the boy's reality was a bit skewed. He hadn't remember being taken as a small child away from his home. Who would, at only two? He just knew...here.   
He also didn't understand that the man who'd taken him had died. Some nut, stored away in this bunker. Completely sure that the end would come, that they would all be dead soon. He had "saved" Dirk, in his mind. 

But he went out one day and had never come back. Dirk had been four. He couldn't remember another person, couldn't remember anyone else being around at all. 

Thankfully for the boy, food was stored in excess. Water as well. The man had been prepared for the long haul, it'd seemed. Dirk learned how to cook things, had found books on that. Those books were frustrating to the child, though. He could put names to things, but some of them didn't make sense. Fruits and vegetables weren't like the book said they'd be- they were in cans. All food came from cans, or those dried and stored packages he had to add water to before he could eat them. 

That's why the child enjoyed math. Math was real, math had real answers. Math was just numbers, and he was good at numbers. He knew numbers for how many things he had, for how long his things would last. 

Days weren't really a thing down here. That was something he didn't understand- days. He didn't know he was underground, didn't know the sun was real and above him and so, so bright. The florescent bulbs were all he had, and he was still too short to change them when they went out. Half of them had already, so he lived in relative darkness. That was alright, he could still see a little bit. Sometimes he'd take candles, when he couldn't, but he'd memorised where everything in his world was. He was happy. He was safe, he had food and water and knew how to fix the air filter when it broke and he started to feel dizzy. 

That all changed when they were going through the man's house, his captor's house. He was dead, had gotten involved in a shoot out with the police. 

Dirk's body was never found. Not until now, going through the house. Again and again it'd been looked through, trying to find clues, trying to find...well, anything.   
It wasn't until now, some unlucky person leaning against the fridge in the basement wrong. It shifted, and she could see the peek of something behind it.   
It'd been filled with things, papers and documents. They'd never thought to move it, but it did. And behind it? A door.

 

Dave hadn't expected Dirk to still be alive, he hadn't been raised to be optimistic. 

At 14 he'd been handed a crying baby in nothing but one of Bro's t-shirts stuffed into his arms instead of the expected pile of puppets, that had been Dave's first introduction to Dirk. The 14 year-old had practically named him after all, amber eyes and an innocence that he couldn't let Bro ruin, he refused to. So for two years, Dave had a baby in his arms then one day Dave took his eyes off his brother for a second buying groceries and as swiftly as he'd been handed his little brother the bundle had been taken away. 

He'd called the police and spent countless nights sleepless and fearful for news of his brother but the news never came. Dirk had disappeared into the abyss and Dave felt like he'd lost a limb. He'd only been 16 he hadn't known. 8 years later Dave got a phone call. The call he'd never expected to come. 

Running breathlessly into the hospital, suit creased and shades crooked, he'd searched for the familiar face of the detective who'd taken the case years ago and finally come through on her promise to find his little brother. Taking a second to breathe and adjust himself Dave opened the hospital room to see who Dirk had grown into. 

Dirk wasn't so little anymore but after a pause that didn't stop Dave from greeting, "Sup, little man?" As he stood awkwardly next to the door just absorbing the sight of Dirk. "I guess you don't remember me." He stated the fucking obvious because he didn't know what else to do. 

Striders didn't hug, nah, that shit was gay. Not that it wasn't okay to be gay, it was, despite what Bro had beaten into Dave. But also there was no way Dirk remembered him from being 2 years old, fuck, Dave didn't even know if the other knew how to speak or understood English...

 

Dirk winced as the room to his door was open. The whole of his hospital room was dark, the blinds closed and the light off. The child could hardly stand light, hated the brightness that was so encompassing. 

He'd been terrified of other people. He didn't like them touching him, it was all too much. They were too close and too loud and too- too everything! 

Dirk knew some English from the videos he watched. He spelled it far better than he spoke it, but no one had given him a pencil and paper yet. They probably thought he was stupid. Dirk felt pretty stupid, confused and scared with all these new things around. 

There was something different about this man, though. He was different than all the doctors and nurses who'd come in so far. His voice was soft, like the nurses' had been, but he seemed a little shakier. Not as confident. 

Dirk liked that, because he was pretty shaky too. He'd been worried he was the only shaky person in the whole world. 

Dirk motioned for him to come in, wanted to beg him to shut the door. Most of the time he was shooing people out, but he didn't want to lose this man. Nurses and doctors came in all the time, and it was scary and they brought things that were too loud and he didn't like it. 

They changed a lot as well. Dirk needed a lot of help, apparently. But he didn't want to lose this man so quickly, the one with the weird cover over his eyes and the outfit that more closely resembled the men he saw in the TV.

 

Dirk didn't talk, Dave didn't know what to make of that, but sighing out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding he nodded and closed the door behind him before entering the room. You didn't leave a door open behind you, that was just inviting an attack. 

Making sure all of his movements were slow Dave came closer, observing the scaring on his brother who still had those same beautiful amber eyes that wrenched at Dave's heart as he moved to sit in the chair next to Dirk's hospital bed as he wished so desperately someone would have done for him all those years ago. 

Sitting down Dave continued to talk mostly because sound had comforted him even when living with Bro, sound was safe, silence was where the danger lurked. "You can't talk, or don't talk? Don't worry it's cool. I can learn sign I'm really good with my hands- wait, fuck. Did that sound sexual? You don't even know what an innuendo is... Fuck." Face with his little brother after so many years Dave was having a MINOR struggle but he simply rubbed the tears away beneath his shades and released an uneven sigh.

"I know I'm not making much sense right now, but do you understand me at all?" He asked offering his open palm to Dirk, not so much in a hand shake but in an offer of contact of some kind even if they couldn't communicate verbally, although regardless of the soft southern drawl escaping his lips Dave just wanted to touch his brother. To make sure Dirk was real.

 

This was the first time that Dirk had been invited to touch anyone. Everyone else was mean, they grabbed him and moved him and poked him with things. He didn't like it, he didn't like any of the nurses or doctors. 

This man, though. He was different. Dirk didn't understand a lot of what Dave was saying. He knew...he knew the words themselves. He knew /what/ Dave was saying, just not...what they were supposed to mean. 

He'd ask, maybe. Later. Right now, Dirk was just staring at the hand offered out to him. Dirk had had the whole of what he perceived as the world to be his before. Now he had nothing. Nothing was his, not this room, not the bed or the pillows. 

Everything was uncertain, but this man was so nice, and he was being kind. So Dirk reached out, tentatively. 

The feeling of someone touching him was still overwhelming, but touching someone else was just a little better. Dirk stayed like that for just a little bit, tracing lines over Dave's hand. 

The feeling of someone else's skin was odd, but Dirk kind of liked it. 

He looked up, offering the first smile since he'd been ripped from his world a few days ago.

 

The relief that flooded Dave's body as Dirk decided to take his hand even just with the tips of his fingers flooded Dave's body. He was so happy that despite almost a decade the child was giving him a chance. He kept his palm open and after a few minutes risked curling his fingers a little to ghost them over Dirk's palm in return, his fingers were too slender, too pail next to Dave's tan skin. 

It took Dave a second but he returned the smile, the tips of his lips twitching upwards into a smile before settling back into neutrality, although with the contact Dave wasn't quite as stiff as he'd first been upon entry. 

After a little more silence Dave began talking again, "Even if you don't know what it means I guess I should tell you that I'm your bro, once the doctors give you the okay to get out of here you're going to come and live with me. I have soul custody." He sniffed softly, "That means we're family, and I'm going to take care of you." He spoke knowing it was best to keep things simple for now. 

"And so I'm not building this shit back up on lies, I lost you in the first place, worst day of my life, little man. One second your chubby little ass was in the trolley and the next you were gone... I'm sorry Dirk, I'm so sorry I lost you. I'm going to do better this time." He promised not really knowing how much of this Dirk was getting.

 

Dirk tilted his head, obviously confused. The man looked upset, though. Dirk didn't like that, not at all. He liked this man, he was nice and Dirk nearly laughed as the other's fingertips brushed against his palms. 

His hands were scarred the worst out of all of him. Cuts and burns and all sorts of things that parents usually kept their children from. Dirk didn't know what that was like, honestly, but he did know that his hands were a lot bumpier than the man's. 

Dirk wanted to make this man feel better, but he didn't exactly know how. He talked about losing him, but...he was right here. He assumed he was talking about him, anyways. He'd have to ask later what Dirk meant. 

First things first, though. Dirk grabbed Dave's hand with both of his smaller ones and brought it close, up against his chest. 

The touch was a lot, but Dirk was in control. And, well. He wasn't lost. He was right here! Dave didn't have to worry about him being lost when he was right in front of him. 

He moved one of his hands, though, carefully and slowly tracing letters on the back of Dave's hand. 

D-I-R-K-? 

He looked back up at him for an explanation, hoping he'd spelled it out right. He was pretty good at spelling, he copied the words directly from the books most of the time. This, he'd never read, but he hoped he'd put it together correctly.

 

As the little guy brought his hand up to his chest Dave's brow creased for a second before he realised what Dirk was doing and a choked laugh escaped him along with a small smile, "Yeah, little man, I got you now." He mumbled softly although this close there was no way Dirk couldn't hear. Dave opened his hand in Dirk's grip slowly so that the tips of his fingers rested on the other's chest. 

Dave had his little brother back and it was surreal. 

Watching the other trace his name on his hand ignited another spark of joy until Dave lifted his gaze to see that the other didn't know what it meant. "That's you." Dave explained softly, remembering when a daycare employee had thought Dave was being stubborn for not responding to a name he hadn't known he'd had. He curled three fingers back into his palm and used the index finger to tap the younger's chest. 

"Everyone has a name, Dirk," He continued. "Yours is Dirk Strider." He said reaching into his suit pocket and pulling out his phone, because he didn't have any paper, so he started typing it out on a memo, the phone screen illuminating the room because, well, there was nothing else projecting even a little light other than the slither of it peaking out from beneath the door. 

It was hurting Dave's eyes a little with the shades on AND the dark. 

Dave placed the phone on his bed, the lock screen of him, John, Jade, and Rose from the day his restraining order against Bro had gone through. Then his home screen was Terezi holding back an infuriated looking Karkat who silently screamed at Dave to delete the photo whilst flipping him off almost hanging from the taller girls arms. 

And then it was the fake yellow paper of the memo app which he typed DIRK STRIDER on for the other. "You get two names dude, a first, which is you, Dirk." He nodded to Dirk. "And then a second which says who you're related to, for us that's Strider." he summarised before adding DAVE STRIDER to the memo and pointing to himself. 

The sight of a phone was so normal to him he didn't really consider how Dirk would react or if the light source would be too much for his unadjusted eyes.

 

Dirk Strider. Dirk had a name, that was something that was his. Or part his. He knew the concept of sharing, like how the hospital was sharing all the room with him right now, and how he had to share his blood with the hospital a little bit. 

But Dirk was his. That was his name that he didn't have to share. Strider he did have to share, but that was alright. If he had to share with anyone, he's glad it's with Dave. 

Dirk winces when the phone's brought out. He doesn't like the phone very much, he decides. It's bright, way too bright. It's like staring directly into one of the light bulbs in his old room, in his old house where he knew everything. 

Dirk didn't like it, but then there were two names on it. Four in total, really, but two belonged to Dirk and two belonged to Dave. 

Dirk couldn't remember the names of all the nurses and doctors who came through. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to remember Dave's name either, and that was no good. How could he ask for Dave if he couldn't remember who Dave was? 

Surely he'd remember Dirk, because Dirk was his. Same with Strider. He'd say them over and over a million times in his head because he couldn't forget them, but he's not sure he can fit a third name in there. He as a lot to learn and everything is a little overwhelming. 

He likes the phone a little better when it has their names on it, but it's so small and the words are taking up so much of it. It's going to be all covered up with words in no time. 

Dirk wonders if they have big paper out here, like he did. It was bigger than his face and he could fit a lot on it. Dave doesn't seem to have to use a pencil or pen or maker or anything to write on this paper, but the paper's so small that it doesn't even matter. 

Dirk traces out something else on Dave's hand, slowly so the man catches it. 

D-A-V-E 

He waits patiently, wanting Dave to say it out loud. Dirk wants to know how to say it, so he can ask for him if he ever gets his voice out of his throat ever again. It's been stuck there since he was taken from his house. He can't make it come out and sometimes it's scary, but now he's just saving up all the words he wants to say for when it comes back. Dave is a word he wants to save, it might be his second or third favourite word. Or one lower now, because Dirk is going to be his favourite word because it's his.

 

Noticing Dirk wince Dave frowned for a second before removing his shades and handing them to Dirk, "Here you go little man," Dave said softly, "I'll get you my pint-size pair before we leave this hyper sterilised hell hole." He promised, "But you're gonna look dope in these for now, we're gonna have to start Spelling Dirk with two 'i's like the real D-O-double-G. God, you have no idea what rap is. Little man, we've got so much culture catch up to do." 

Dave ran his fingers through his hair as he continued to focus on the screen, his eyes red unlike Dirks and slightly sensitive to light just from years of wearing shades, but they adjusted to the phone - that did seem too bright in the blacked out room - and he carried on. 

All rambling stopped as Dirk traced on his hand. Dave watched quietly, focusing so he got it right before chuckling and running his fingers back through his hair, he seemed far more emotive without the shades. "Yeah that's me Dirk, I'm Dave." He said calmly. "Dave Strider, your big bro." 

Wow, it's been a long time since he'd said that, he could remember trying to make Bro Dirk's first word, in the end, it had been 'pony'. Not that Dave could be too mad about it when he left Dirk to watch my little pony when he had to do his homework. 

He paused for a second before continuing, "You've been real quiet Little man, do you wanna try sayin' your name? Or mine, that'd be pretty dope too dude." It was hard to hide the hope from his ruby iris' but Dave couldn't blame Dirk if he couldn't yet. "Fuck it's good to see you, Little man." He almost whispered so he didn't start crying.

 

Dirk feels the shades placed on his face, pats at the edges before smiling. Dirk liked Dave a lot. Dave said something would help and it did. He wasn't like all the mean doctors, who said things would help when they really just hurt. 

The shades were good, but Dirk mostly liked them because he could see Dave's whole face now. Dirk liked it, especially the eyes. No one else had eyes like him, he knew because he'd seen himself in the mirror so much. And no one had eyes like Dave either. That'd make him easier to remember, probably easier to find. Dave, with red eyes, who was Dirk's. And maybe Dirk was his too, is that what Strider meant? He hoped so. 

Dirk liked the way Dave talked. The way he put words together didn't make any sense, but Dave didn't make a lot of sense. He said a lot of words Dirk didn't know either, but he didn't want to ask. He didn't want Dave to think he was dumb, like all the doctors and nurses probably did. 

Dave asked him to talk, though, and Dirk wanted to. He wanted to really badly. He sounded out the word he wanted in his head a lot, and then he tried to say it for real, but he couldn't make anything move like he wanted to. 

He was getting frustrated at himself, very nearly crying. He didn't want to cry, though, but he knew you just couldn't help it sometimes. It was gross, and the salt dried on your face all nasty but Dirk thought maybe sometimes you just had too many stored up and you had to let them out. 

He does now, but he doesn't understand what comes along with crying. He doesn't know that people help people who are crying. Dirk's cried his whole life and there was never a soul around to help him when he did. A useless thing, really. 

S-T-U-C-K 

He traces out the word and then points to his throat, hoping Dave understood. Dave was smarter than the doctors and nurses, though, he bet. Even if he used too small paper, he had shades that helped Dirk and he was so nice.

 

Watching Dirk spell Dave's heart sank but he nodded and gave a sympathetic smile, "That's cool, Little man, my voice used to get stuck a lot too, but now it's only when I'm really scared." He smiled, sighed and just studied Dirk for a second. 

His little brother was beautiful and just like he'd been eight years ago, Dirk was quickly becoming the centre of Dave's world again. He had no idea how to raise a child but he'd damn well do it right. 

"Some people talk with their hands instead voices," He rubbed his throat softly before placing his other hand on the child's, hoping Dirk would understand more. "Like us T-A-L-King now." He spelled back on Dirk's palm to make his point. "I could get a book and we could learn it together to talk like that until your voice isn't stuck anymore if you'd like?" He asked perfectly happy to learn sign language with the other if it was easier for Dirk. 

Swallowing thickly Dave wasn't sure what else to suggest so he asked, "When you can what do you want to talk about with me?" Maybe it was a difficult question and if Dirk didn't get it he'd understand but for the moment Dave just wanted to answer any questions the other had or have a conversation with him and not at him, something the elder Strider was prone to do.

 

Book! Dirk knew books, he liked them a lot. He'd read everything in the house, though, he thought he'd run out of words. There was a dictionary he look for words in, but even the dictionary didn't have all the words. It had a lot, though, so that's what Dirk used. 

He nods excitedly at the prospect of talking to Dave, but he's mostly excited that he'll see Dave again. He wipes at his eye with his free hand when Dave asks what he wants to talk about when he can. He thinks he wants to talk about a lot of things with Dave.

He has to make a new list. There's a list of words he wants to say. He's a little less worried now, though, because Dave's words got stuck sometimes too, so it was just fine. 

The new list of of things he wants to ask Dave. He wants to ask about books. He saw them in movies sometime. He wants to know how many there are, total. Can he read them all? Or just more? Was there only one of each book? Were all the books with Dirk the only ones, did no one else have a dictionary? That'd be a shame. 

Speaking of, though, Dirk finds something he wants to ask about very first. 

H-O-M-E

He wants to know when he can go back, why they took him away. Will Dave visit him there? He hopes so, but he won't let the doctors or nurses in, he decides.

 

A smile broke Dave's soft if not bemused neutrality as he saw how excited Dirk got about the prospect of books. He was gonna buy this kid as many as he could... He'd get Dirk a library pass when he was discharged. 

Home? Home WHAT? 

"You're going to come home with me Dirk, that's what it means to be family." He said calmly, "We live together and look after each other." 

"We used to live together but you don't remember that you were too young."He admits guiltily. "You can come home when the doctors say you're healthy enough." He bit the inside of his lip, "Do you understand Dirk?"

 

Dirk frowned. There was only one bed in the house. Would he and Dave have to share? Dirk supposes that that'll work, but it still seems really small. The house was big enough for Dirk because Dirk was small.

Dave's bigger than him, but it's apparently what families do. Dirk wants to voice his concerns, but he doesn't have any paper or enough room to write. He needs to tell Dave now, though. 

He got frustrated again at the stuck words. He wanted to tell Dave about it, ask where he'd be staying and if they could bring more books in. But he couldn't, because it was stuck. He wasn't even scared, like Dave said. He was fine, he was brave and Dave said he could go home.

S-M-A-L-L

Dirk wrote it out, then 

H-O-M-E

It was too small for them both. Dirk was worried about space. What could he get rid of to fit Dave? Everything seemed important there.

 

Dave frowned a little as he watched Dirk struggle, he didn't understand what the other was struggling with but took what the other was signing in tow. "Small?" He asked confused before assuming Dirk was talking about Dave's place. "No it's not small, a lot bigger than... Oh." He smiled softly at Dirk, the other didn't understand.

"You're going to come to my home Dirk." His tone was soft, he really hoped the news didn't upset the child. It would be so fucked up if it did but Dirk didn't know any better. "There's a lot more space in my home," He said trying to sell it, "You can have more books there, and toys," What else did kids like? "You'll be able to make friends and bring them over, build shit outta lego, man you used to love lego, just wait until I get you lego again." 

Dave hadn't rented his apartment with thoughts of Dirk, no, he'd already rented this place for almost a year. Working at a local radio station didn't pay all that well but it was enough, Dave was working for a promotion though, and had a podcast going with Rose on the side that mostly consisted of ribbing each other and the odd psychological study on the side but people liked listening to it enough to help Dave afford things he wanted and with benefits he'd be more than able to support Dirk so maybe after a while he'd be able to rent a bigger place.

For now, the loft apartment that Dave had gotten on the cheap because it was next to the railway would have to do. He hoped the trains didn't scare Dirk. They soothed Dave.

 

Dirk frowned. Toys? Toys weren't real things, they were in book and VHS tapes. They weren't real things, right? That didn't really matter. He wanted to go back home. Why wouldn't Dave let him go home. 

He shook his head, signing again. 

H-O-M-E

He signs it again, frowning. He wanted to go back, why wouldn't he be allowed to go back. He writes it again, a little quicker, obviously getting worried. He wants to go home now, even if Dave wasn't there.

Dirk starts panicking just a little bit, gripping Dave's hand tightly as he traces the word over and over. He wants to go home. There are tears in his eyes again, and his breathing picks up again.

 

Dave notices Dirk edging towards a panic attack and if he didn't do something soon nurses would come in and sedate him for the belated effects of shock or some other bullshit that he couldn't tolerate. Squeezing Dirk's hand softly Dave said, "Hey, Dirk?" trying to distract the other's attention.

"You can spell real good you know that? So that means you're pretty smart doesn't it?" He spoke slowly enough but prayed Dirk listened, "So I'm going to show you how a phone works, so you can talk to me, and we're going to have an adult conversation- I wouldn't trust other kids with adult conversations Dirk," He stressed hoping the other would relax a little as Dave held his hand firmly and calmly, yet he'd let the little guy pull away if necessary. It had taken Dave weeks to let anyone other than Rose touch him once he'd gone into care.

"But you're smart so I can trust you right?" He paused looking for confirmation, eyes searching for Dirks behind the shades as he wrote T-R-U-S-T-M-E on the little guy's palm.

 

Dirk was a little different- he craved attention and affection, but on his terms. Touch wasn’t associated with hurt but rather, wasn’t associated at all with anything. 

Dirk nodded when the other spoke, being careful to listen. Okay, he could...he could do an adult conversation. He could do it for Dave. 

Dave was the first person he met who wasn’t a nurse or officer or doctor. Dave was nice and soft and his. Dave was sharing his shades and Dirk wanted to share his home but he couldn’t. 

Still, he didn’t want Dave to leave. Dirk had scared off nurses before. He made them cry, but he didn’t do anything. 

Sometimes you just had to let it out. He didn’t know why people got all sad when they looked at him sometimes. 

Maybe he could ask Dave that in an adult conversation.

 

Offering Dirk a soft smile, Dave hadn't emoted this much around someone new in a long time, the older brother nodded in time with the younger before beginning to show him how a phone worked. "Great, I knew I could count on you, Little man." He said affectionately. 

"A phone's a lot like TV and books combined, you had TV didn't you?" He asked honestly not sure but clutching at straws here. "There are apps on your phone that you can press like changing the channel and they do different things this one lets you write," He said pulling up memos and bringing up a keyboard for Dirk to look at and type on. 

"As you're so good spelling on my hands think you can use this to spell and talk to me?" He asked with a smile, rubbing one of Dirk's hands that he was still holding. "And if you don't understand what I'm saying, you've gotta be real mature and ask me to explain it again, like I will with you, because you have to understand one another in an adult conversation." 

If Dave had remembered his bag he'd have used paper and a pen but as soon as he'd gotten the call he'd hightailed it out of work like his life depended on it, he still felt like that, so all he had to work with were his phone and wallet. He doubted making it rain would help right now, especially now his broke ass had to start saving up for Dirk's care. 

"Do you want to try asking me something?" He said presenting Dirk with the phone and wishing he didn't have to explain that there was more than that fucking bunker to life.

 

Dirk nodded. He pressed at the keys, watching the way they moved to the screen. It was still a very little space, but the lettering was small so it was better. He didn’t know how to change channels, just tapes, but that was probably fine. 

He was careful to pick the right letters as he typed out his message. 

‘I want to go home there is space for you and me even if you are bigger I can talk there and you won’t need your shades because it’s bright and there are a lot of books I can show you’

He didn’t know how to do punctuation or make things upper case, only having the spell check aid him there. He hoped that Dave understood, though. It was alright if he didn’t- he’d ask, Dirk remembered.

He put the phone back in Dave’s hand, looking up at him as he read through it. 

He was tired, and he didn’t want Dave to leave. People left when he went to sleep, which was usually nice. But maybe Dave was going to be one of the people who disappeared forever. He didn’t want that. 

He also wasn’t sure how he felt about the weight of the phone, how it worked. He wanted to take it apart. That’s what he did with other things, things that weren’t super important. That’s why he had scars and burns and cuts. The people said his scars wouldn’t heal, though Dirk couldn’t understand him. 

But his scars had healed- that’s why they were scars. Was there something wrong with them? He had more than Dave. Maybe they were bad...

 

Watching Dirk figuring it out was the- well this was the highlight of Dave's year but it was still pretty good. Dirk had to be clever, Dave wasn't just saying it to butter the younger up anymore. Dave would have been awful had their roles been reversed. 

"Dirk, where you are doesn't affect whether you can talk or not, that's all up to you little guy, but, do you remember getting dizzy before you were here? The people that found you said that was because your old home isn't safe anymore, so you can't go back. And you hurt yourself a lot there didn't you?" He said, tracing some of the worse scaring up Dirk's arm with his fingertips, it made Dave feel hollow to look at them, he'd wanted to protect Dirk so badly...

"Well, that's why I don't want you to be alone anymore. I want to help you and make sure you're safe and not hurt again, but the bunk- errrrm, your old home isn't safe anymore and-" You shouldn't have been there in the first place some sick fuck abducted you and took you from me and left you to rot in that hell hole and I can't tell you any of this because you're too damn young to understand and it'll frighten you and I don't want to lose you. 

"And that's why the doctors are keeping you here to make sure you're okay before I can take you to my home where it's safe, and it will be your home and you can have books." Dave was really trying to sell it but he had no idea how. He paused for a second before asking "Dirk can I show you something?" He didn't know if this was a good idea or not but he wanted to try.

 

Dirk still wasn’t completely sold. Being dizzy was easy to fix, you just had to fix the air filter. He’d run out of new filters for a while before he realized he could clean off the old ones. That’d helped a lot, he fell asleep a lot for a little while before he put it all together. 

Dave was nice and warm and good, though, so Dirk wasn’t opposed to hearing what the man had to say. He nodded at the question. 

He didn’t know what Dave could show him that’d change his mind. Home was safe and he wanted to go back. Home had all his books and friends and everything and he could talk there. Dave said that it was up to him, but he wasn’t sure he believed that. 

Dirk did pull the blanket of the hospital bed up around his shoulders when Dave traced the scars. He didn’t want them to make Dave sad and make him leave. He was getting the feeling that they were bad, and he wanted to hide them. 

He wanted to hide his whole self up, back under the covers, back at home with the door closed, never opened, all the windows gone and safe. He knew where things were there. He didn’t know where things were here. He ran into things when he tried to walk. 

He heard doctors says that he didn’t develop right. He heard other doctors say that he just didn’t know distances, because he never had to learn how to gauge them. 

The doctors talked a lot in front of him with big words Dirk had learned from the books in his house. He bet they thought he didn’t know. Everyone thought he was stupid.

 

Dave had a plan, one that he prayed to whichever deity owed him big time for making him Bro's kin and taking Dirk away from him until now, but it had to wait because all of a sudden Dirk was hiding from him and that was unacceptable. "Wha- Dirk hey, Come on man, don't hide from me I thought we were cool." He cooed running his fingers through his hair nervously before trying different tactics.

"What's up?" It took a second for Dave to understand Dirk was hiding his scars. He swallowed thickly before shrugging off his suit blazer and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. The backs of his arms were almost completely white with scarring. Thick blade trails left smooth lines of abuse across his skin, they weren't quite the same as Dirks but, he held them out like a peace offering.

"Do you think I'm not going to like you anymore because of your scars, Dirk?" He asked with a small smile. "I bet I have more." He joked bitter but also hopefully, he didn't want Dirk to have suffered. "This is why I want you to come home with me, so you don't get any more, because they hurt, right? I don't want you to hurt, Little man." This hadn't been what Dave had intended to show Dirk but he needed the other to know he was there for him.

 

Dirk traced over Dave’s scars with fascination. Dave was good and Dave had scars. Dave had lots, like Dirk. Dirk held out one of his arms next to Dave and smiled at the similarities. 

Same weird eyes, same scars. He hoped a lot of his other stuff was the same like Dave’s. He wanted to count off in his head, one thing, two, three. Another list. Dirk lived off of lists, it’s how he had to organize to keep things going. 

He missed having paper, but the phone was the next best thing. He could make lists of that. But that was Dave’s, and Dave was just sharing because he was nice. 

Dirk spent a long time moving careful fingers over the scars. They were different from Dirk’s, but they were still raised and bumpy and he liked them. This was another thing that made them Strider, maybe. 

Dirk nods a little when Dave mentions them hurting. Of course it hurt, but then he didn’t do it anymore. He was confused when Dave said it didn’t have to hurt. He thinks he’s lying again, but that’s okay. He learned that people tell lies, the doctors and nurses. He likes Dave’s lies a little more, though. 

He holds Dave hand, but he isn’t ready to come out of the blanket yet. His head’s poking out, and so are both of his arms. It’s just resting on his back now, no longer fully covering him.

 

Tensing a little when Dirk first touched him Dave took a few breathes and continued to let the other explore the tapestry of scars on his skin, when Dirk was older he'd explain how he got or rather received the marks. What the kid didn't understand that no matter how Dirk felt about it he'd be moving in with Dave.

However, the older couldn't take it if Dirk hated him, so he'd do his best to package it well. Dave just sat their holding Dirk's hand, softly rubbing his thumb over the other's knuckles as though this wasn't the first time he'd ever done it. Holding Dirk felt like the most natural thing in the world.

"Hey, Little man, I know you feel safe at home but I want you to feel safe with me too." He admitted softly squeezing Dirk's hand despite not knowing how long they'd just sat there simply absorbing each other's company. 

"There's a lot you haven't seen before and I want to show it to you." He adjusted his shades on Dirks face slightly before giving the younger's hand one last squeeze and standing up. "Can I open the curtains please?" He wouldn't do it if it was too much for Dirk, but they were on the second floor so he knew there was no risk of photographers or other press journalists standing outside poised with cameras to scare Dirk just for a new scoop on the latest imprisoned kid story.

"There's a lot more than just your old home and this hospital and I want to help you explore it Dirk." He said softly, "If it's too bright outside for you the shades should help, and if it's too much even then, I'll close the curtains immediately. Okay?"

 

Dirk looked at the curtains, or rather, glared at them. The last time they'd been open, it was horrible. Too bright, too much, too- too everything! He didn't like it, not at all. 

But even if Dave lied to him, it was only a little. And the shades were already helping. He pulled the blanket tight around him again, not moving from the bed just yet. Not ready, not good, not a good time to do that. He needed more time, but Dave seemed to give him all the time in the world. 

Everyone else was always busy, always on a schedule and following some list that they wouldn't let Dirk see. He doesn't know who sees everyone's lists. Dirk would show them, if they asked, if they wanted to see /his/ lists. 

Now he's more secretive about it. He doesn't nod yes or no to the questions the doctors ask, not now, not as much. He doesn't like them, so he's stubborn. He'd tell Dave, though. Dave was the only one that was good, Dave was his favourite from the handful of people's names he could actually remember.

He nodded, finally. He curled up kind of tight, waiting for the pain of the bright light and too sharp, too much, stabbing in his eyes. He held the shades tightly, gripping them as he stared at the blinds. 

He was ready to tell the other to close them, though, if it were too much. He didn't know how he'd do it, but he hoped he'd find a way. Maybe he'd even speak, and the words would get unstuck.

 

Dave didn't move until Dirk gave him some kind of a response. He knew the younger had to be curious, he seemed like a curious kid and although the sight of the other bundling himself back up again sent a twinge of sadness through Dave he didn't move. He waited until the other nodded to draw back the fabric enough for them both to see out the window and if Dirk had said no, Dave would have sat his ass back down and resumed talking to the other. 

He wanted to talk all night but could tell Dirk was getting tired. 

They must have been talking for a while because although Dave had arrived in the early afternoon, scrawling over all sorts of sheets and medical files before he'd finally been allowed to see Dirk, it was now night time. 

The city-scape was clear through the window, apartment blocks just across from the hospital lawn towering into the violet night sky. The rough shapes of the city were silhouetted against the sunset they must have JUST missed. The yellow glow of lights from windows in the distance were the brightest things Dirk would have to deal with and if he came closer he'd be able to see the emerging stars.

Dave wasn't watching any of that though, his sole focus was Dirk.

 

Dirk winced when the blinds opened. It was still bright, brighter than he was used to, but...the shades helped. It also wasn't the screaming, hurting pain of before. Dirk looked out, and he was sure the look on his face was something like awe.

This was...amazing. There was so much. He'd only seen it in books, on the VHS takes. Nothing like this could really exist, he thought. He didn't even recognise the ground, at first. 

He tried to make a list of things he could see, but he was quickly overwhelmed and couldn't remember the first. 

He moved closer. He was on his tip toes, staring out at the world, but he could hardly see. He was small, smaller than an average ten-year-old. He'd been carried all the way from his bunker home to here. He looked up at Dave, tugging some on the bottom of his shirt. 

He didn't know it, not really, but lifting your arms up was a universal signal to be picked up anywhere, it seemed. 

Maybe Dave would talk again. Maybe he'd point out things he didn't know. Dirk wanted the adult conversation, so he could ask, but he couldn't reach the phone. He'd stick with just hoping Dave would talk instead.

 

Dirk came closer and Dave's heart swelled, he'd done the right thing, he hadn't wanted to scare Dirk but his little brother was brave and Dave couldn't have been prouder. As Dirk peeked over the ledge Dave turned to look out the window too, in order to avoid the urge to pick Dirk up lion king style so he could see everything. All that was his.

Dave would make the world Dirk's.

As it turned out Dirk wanted to be picked up and Dave was so happy his heart skipped a beat. With a calm expression and a nod Dave bent down and picked Dirk up with ease, too much ease, he'd bulked out significantly since breaking free of Bro's custody and having a balanced diet but that didn't excuse how frail Dirk was. The other's bony form was hauntingly familiar. 

He picked Dirk up and balanced the kid on his hip as they looked out the window, remembering that Dirk had never seen any of this before Dave just began talking. 

You could always count on Dave to talk.

First he pointed at the apartment building, "That's a tower of homes," He said trying to keep it simple. "I live at the top of a REALLY tall one, you can see everything from there, you'd love it." He confirmed holding Dirk a little closer, more for him than the child. "Everyone sleeps and cooks at home in their apartment and then goes to work, which is why we have roads." He moved his finger down on the glass, "So we can get to places easier like I had to follow a road to get to you." He smiled at Dirk trying to blink back tears because the nostalgia of holding Dirk as a baby and now was hitting him like the day after a strife. No, Worse. 

"Then we're in a hospital where people to go when they're sick and get better or to make sure they're okay and they're not sick. You're here because we want to make sure you're not sick and get you even stronger than you are now." Dave said softly adjusting Dirk to be more comfortable on his hip. "Those are stars," He pointed up at the sky. "They're magic balls of gas that burn so we have light." He explained positive that Dirk wasn't going to understand that one first time. 

"And they're really really far away but so strong that we can still see them, and the closest one is called the sun and it's light, sunlight, is what hurts your eyes because it's so powerful, but it's also what allows grass to grow," He pointed at the lawn out the front of the hospital, "And the trees, and us." He said poking Dirk in the chest. "And now that you can see the sun more, you're going to grow and grow until you're big like me and able to look out of the window by yourself." He said hugging the other to him softly.

It was unlikely after such sever malnutrition that Dirk would make it to Dave's height, hell Dave was 6ft and he'd lived off whatever the fuck Bro had brought home all his life. Although Bro had been at least 6'4 so that said a lot about what they could have grown to on a balanced diet.

 

Dirk didn't really understand the whole "growing" thing. Nothing grew down there besides him. He knew he got bigger, but he didn't keep track. He only noticed in the way his clothing changed some, but his clothes were always so, so big. 

Dirk liked listening to Dave, but he liked more listening to the man while pressed against his chest. He could feel Dave's words, the way they worked through him. His chest rumbled against his head.

And then, he heard it. Something that was better than seeing the whole of the world- he heard a heartbeat. 

He didn't know exactly what it was, not really. But it was steady and even and he had one of those too. It was another thing that was the same, but it was calming. He liked it better than Dave's voice, maybe. 

Dirk tapped his fingers against Dave's chest to match the heartbeats, not even paying mind to the world outside the window except for what Dave pointed out. It was a lot, it was hard to comprehend it all, but Dave? Dave he could comprehend.

 

It was getting late, Dave should be getting ready to leave because a nurse was sure as shit going to come in and tell him visiting hours were over. He should go home and eat something and call Rose who was probably wondering what the fuck was going on, but with Dirk returning the rhythm of his heartbeat to him with little taps on his chest, Dave wasn't sure he'd ever be able to put Dirk down again. 

Dave just stood there quietly in front of the window letting Dirk observe it all, enjoying the feeling of his little brother back in his arms he was certain today was the best day of his life and as he rubbed small circles on Dirk's back he let the world drift by and time pass on for the first time, enjoying relative silence.

If Dirk wanted to talk Dave would but for now they could just observe.

 

Dirk had had a long day, and he can't remember ever being wrapped up in warmth like this, with the tap tap tap of a heartbeat against his ear. He closes his eyes, letting everything go. He was so tired, he'd done so much today. 

He only shifted when someone else came in. Someone else didn't knock, Dirk hated when they didn't knock. He'd been asleep, he was so tired. He wanted whoever it was to go away so he could keep sleeping. 

The nurse was clearly surprised at the window being open, much less someone touching Dirk. 

"Sir, visiting hours are nearly over."

While guardians could technically stay, there was some paperwork that'd have to be submitted to make Dave the legal guardian. There was paperwork that needed to be done to make Dirk a person again. 

And, this was a special case. No one was to visit the boy for too long, and certainly no overnight visitation. She had to kick the man out, as much as she was loathe to. She couldn't lose her job over this, especially not with such a sensitive case. She didn't know if this was doing harm or good, after all.

 

A trance was probably the best way to describe the comfort that Dave had slipped into with Dirk in his arms. So much so that when the nurse entered he'd actually been surprised not having listened out for an intruder. 

He looked to the nurse for a moment with all the heartache of the 14 year old boy who'd first held Dirk like this. "He was sleeping." Dave said too weakly to really scold the nurse, no, Dave spoke with the voice of a parent after sleepless nights worrying for their child. Dave had eight years weighing him down. 

"Let me just put him to bed and I'll come finish the paperwork at the desk." He said, almost begged as he seemed to hug Dirk a little closer to his chest, but slowly began approaching the bed to prove he wasn't bullshitting. "Please?" He said softly, he'd been waiting so long to put Dirk to bed again and he didn't even have a storybook on him, fuck. It was so irrelevant but Dave still had to blink back tears at the thought of letting Dirk go. 

Swallowing the lump in his throat Dave croaked, "Hey little man," He sat on the hospital bed and began gently lowering Dirk back onto it. "I've gotta go, and sort out our new home together, but I promise once we're home that I won't leave you." He sniffed a little trying not to act like a fool, which was hard when he didn't have his shades on but like hell he was taking them from Dirk.


	2. Long Nights and New Beginnings

Dirk was still blinking the sleep out of his eyes as Dave spoke. However, when the man began to lower him, Dirk started panicking again. 

No. 

No, no, no, Dave couldn't leave. Dave couldn't leave, he'd leave him with the nurses again. The nurses and doctors and they'd stick and poke and no way was Dirk going to just sit there, not after this. Human interact didn't have to hurt, it felt nice, Dave was nice. He wanted Dave, Dave was his and he was Dave's and he didn't want to share Dave with the rest of the big world out there. 

The world was too much and Dave was his, Dave was his and he couldn't leave.

He tried to speak, to say it. He couldn't, but he was mouthing the word, over and over as he shook his head, gripped onto the fabric of the man's suit. 

No, no, no, silent though Dirk tried his very best to speak. 

The nurse covered her mouth. She'd muttered a quiet apology, nodded patiently as Dave made a promise. She moved forward- sometimes the boy was fussy. But it was mostly when people came in, when they needed another sample. This was different, this was dangerous. 

Dirk had missed being exposed to so many germs. Dave had to go through all sorts of sanitation to get into the room. A mask wasn't necessary only because of the air filter they had installed specially for the child. 

Still, too long of exposure could be bad for him. No one person was to be in here for too long, none of them were supposed to be touching him too much. He didn't let anyone touch him anyways, but she couldn't in all good consciousness let this go on. 

"I can take care of this, sir. He'll be fine, you can see him in the morning."

She offered, stepping forward, but she wasn't going to make a move until she got the okay from the man.

 

Dirk began freaking out and Dave nearly broke. It wasn't fair. Why the fuck couldn't he stay the night. They knew they were brothers. The hospital KNEW. But Dave couldn't freak out, he had to be calm for Dirk, as much as it hurt.

"Dirk, Dirk, it's okay. It's okay." He repeated those two words like a mantra as he set Dirk down on the bed but didn't move away. He couldn't with Dirk clinging onto him like that. 

"Mam I really wouldn't suggest touching either of us right now." He stated to the nurse in an icy tone. He just needed to calm Dirk and he'd leave.

"You see that clock?" He asked pointing to the staple clock in the hospital room, every room had one. "Do you have any paper and a pen?" He asked softly to the nurse, knowing he had to be an adult about this. 

"Dirk I'm going to go for a little while so I can get my place ready for you, get your home ready." He half lied, he was going to cry for a very long time first. "So all you have to do is watch the clock. When the hands look like this," He drew a clock with the hands pointing at 7 o'clock. "I'm going to be right back here." He promised. 

"But you have to be an adult and let me go otherwise they're going to make it harder for us to have adult conversations again. You've gotta show them how smart you are Dirk." He said holding the others hands and rubbing them softly.

 

Dirk looked at Dave, almost pleading. But he listened to the words. They were...logical. And awful. But he'd listen to Dave. 

He didn't want to. He didn't understand days or time. He had no concept of how much time passed, of what a day was or anything of the sort. All he knew was that people came in and out and told him when to sleep, and he couldn't sleep as long as he wanted so he got up and got scolded. 

But he could be strong. He could be brave, like the doctors told him to. He couldn't help crying, though. He didn't know how to hide his emotions, that he wasn't supposed to cry. He didn't understand it much, he didn't understand anything much. 

He did understand that he was going to get out of here, though, and be with Dave. But he had to listen. Not only did he have to listen, but he had to listen and do as he was told. That was the hard part. 

He let go of Dave's hand, crawling under the blanket and hiding. He didn't want to see Dave go, he didn't want to see the nurse. 

He understood being alone. This was his first time actually being lonely, though, and Dave wasn't even gone yet. He decided very quickly that he hated it.

 

Dirk cried for him and it broke Dave's heart.

As the other crawled under the covers Dave paused and pulled them back just a little to reveal the top of Dirk's head and kissed it, then as silently as if Bro were in the house, Dave left without the echo of a footstep nodding to the nurse as he did so. 

Dave filled out paperwork and called Rose who wasn't as snarky as usual and offered to come over but Dave had too much to do, and so after sending an email to his boss to explain his circumstances the older brother set about getting his place ready for Dirk, only having about five mental breakdowns throughout the night. 

Barely sleeping wasn't anything new for Dave and so when he woke up exhausted the next morning he downed a pot of coffee and packed his bag to go and see Dirk. He wasn't going in a suit this time, now it was a staple red sleeved baseball tee and his jeans with a spare pair of aviators because daytime was too bright for Dave's eyes too.

He rocked up to the hospital with a box full of shit, some paperwork for the hospital and the rest filled to the brim for Dirk. He had paper pads and pencils, they had to do since he didn't have time to grab child colouring books before opening hours began, his original set of shades for Dirk because they'd just fit the little dude better, some headphones so he could introduce Dirk to music, and his laptop with a few my little pony and sesame street DVDs that he'd used to play for Dirk as a baby. 

Finally, he had Dirk's first toy, a rainbow-dash plushie that Dave had saved up for weeks to buy, picking up change from around the apartment despite the beating he'd get once Bro noticed, just so his little brother had something from Dave. Now Dave would buy him a whole toy store and he'd asked Jade to pick some shit up for him and drop it by the hospital when she could as he didn't have time to grab anything for Dirk but that didn't matter because he wanted to see his little brother again. 

Enthused as always when it came to Dirk, Dave was early but after 15 minutes of the weird ass decontamination ritual (Dave had showered that morning the fuck else did they want from him?) and arguing over bringing in the toys or not with some of the staff Dave rocked up to Dirk's room and knocked on the door before poking his head in. He knew Dirk wasn't going to start talking overnight, so the kid couldn't call come in, but Dave gave him the warning anyway with the box of goodies in his arms. 

"Morning, little man."

 

Dirk was waiting for Dave right inside the door. He hadn't done much that day- the nurses had initially thought that perhaps the visit hadn't done well for the boy. He picked at his food, though that was normal. When he finally got out of bed after Dave left, he closed the blinds, first thing. 

The shades hadn't left the boy's face. 

Nurses would try to get him to talk, ask what was wrong, but he didn't want that. He didn't want them and they gave him no way to tell them what he did want, so he stayed silent. 

He laid in bed, mostly, little head peaking out only enough to watch the clock. He tried to speak to himself, mouthing words. He wanted to practice, for Dave. He wanted to talk to Dave so badly. 

It didn't work, but he'd tried. Right now, though, the clock was nearing seven. He'd held up the little drawing Dave had made, made sure it was right. And, as promised, when the clock looked like the picture, there was a knock on the door. 

Dirk hugged Dave's legs, smushing himself against the man. He'd missed contact. Getting a little and finding out it was nice seemed to have opened the floodgates for the child. 

Humans were meant to be around other humans. Dirk hadn't gotten the chance, but now that a choice was presented to him, he seemed to choose the obvious answer of Dave very easily.

 

Chuckling at the contact Dave balanced the box in one hand and pet Dirk's hair in greeting before saying, "Hey, Dirk, good to see you too." 

"Come on let me set this shit down and close the door before you play koala with me." He teased with an air of adoration for Dirk, moving his legs softly so that he could walk forwards and kick the door closed behind him. 

Making his way over to the chair beside Dirk's bed he set the box down on the other's bedside table and patted his lap once he was seated so Dirk could join him if he wanted to, which he assumed (hoped) the kid did. 

"I brought you some shit today little man. Like I promised yesterday." He gestured to the box, "You wanna take a look through this sweet loot with me?" He asked wanting Dirk to be able to explore and choose things rather than just hand them to him.

 

Dirk climbed up on the man's lap when it was offered to him. He pressed his head against Dave's chest again, tapping out his heartbeat. It was so weird, but he liked it. Dave was actually alive and real and here and his. 

He missed his voice, too. He liked noise, but the noise the doctors and nurses made was always too loud and sharp and not at all good. Dave was soft and warm and deep, like the other men, but not so deep that it was a rumbling sound that was kind of scary, like when the people were stomping all on top of his home. 

Dirk stared at the box of things before looking up at Dave again. He grabbed his hand, tracing the letters out. 

M-I-N-E-?

He liked having things, like Dave and his name. How many things could one person have, though? He had this, but he didn't have the bunker anymore. Could he only have a certain amount of things? Is that why he couldn't have Dave before this?

 

Smiling as Dirk clambered into his lap Dave let the other take his hand and smiled at the spelling nodding his head and spelling Y-E-S back. He pulled the table a little closer so that Dirk could reach into it without really having to move and sitting back so that Dirk could rummage through it and pick stuff out. 

He wondered what the child would like the most. The anime shades, the paper and pencils, the music, the horse toy or the movies. He'd brought his laptop to play the movies on among the other things in his bag but would just let Dirk explore the contents of the box for now. "Go ahead little man."

 

Dirk reached in, making a list of all the things in the box. Paper and pencils, he knows that. He smiles, putting them at the very tippy top of his list. Then there’s these flat things. He doesn’t know what they are, but the front is set up like the VHS tapes he had, just smaller. 

The headphones he doesn’t get. He smiles bright at the shades, taking them out. He exchanges the ones he’s wearing with them, then holds the old ones up. He’s good at sharing. 

Finally, once Dave takes the shades and Dirk adjusts to having shades that actually fit his face, he finds the toy. 

It’s soft, like a pillow. And bright. He loves the colors, the ones he could only ever find in the TV or books. Nothing real like this was ever this bright. He runs his fingers over the mane a few times, smiling softly as he pets it. It’s soft and bright and pretty and it’s HIS!

 

Watching Dirk, all smiles and excitement, as opposed to the tears of last night, was incomparable. Dave wanted to spend the rest of his life like this and as soon as he was given the okay to take Dirk home he would. He didn't give ten hot shits what the gossiping nurses thought about Dave and Dirk's interactions they were brothers and he WOULD take Dirk home. 

Dave would explain the DVD's once the novelty of the rest of the items in the box wore off but for now he was loving the sight of Dirk in his kiddy shades. He was going to get so many photos of Dirk in those once the flash wouldn't scare him... or they just weren't in a dark room. 

"You look like hot shit little dude, they're going to be lining down the block to get a piece of your fresh ass, damn." He chuckled petting Dirk's hair before he was offered his favourite shades back and traded them back with the spare pair. "Thanks, Little man." He said with a smile. 

"I said we'd get you toys didn't I, Dirk?" He smiled, unaware that when he'd told the younger that they'd thought he was lying. "Do you like the horse?" He asked, hugging Dirk to him in a similar manner to the child with the pony, constantly petting the other's hair.

 

Dirk nodded when Dave thanked him, looking up with a smile just for Dave. 

He liked the new shades, but he liked the toy best. He didn't think that the other would actually provide any- he didn't really need them. Not like he needed to fix air filters or clean out the water system or take apart and put together other sorts of things. 

This was nice, though. He ended up hugging the plush to his chest, the way Dave was holding him. He liked Dave holding him- it was like he was wrapped up in the blankets, but this was better. 

He hadn't understood feeling safe until now. Sometimes he had nightmares, about the air filter breaking and him suffocating. Or the water all dying up, or the food disappearing. 

Sometimes he had worse nightmares, things he couldn't really remember. Shadows and things coming out of the dark, grabbing him. Screaming and crying and-

And he woke up and shook them off. This was a much better way to deal with it, he decided. If he had Dave, he can't imagine ever being afraid of the shadows sometimes ever again. 

He grabbed at the paper, taking a pencil and gripping it just right. The pencils back at home were all down to their nubs, basically, Dirk used them so much. He had to sharpen those with an old knife too. This was pre-sharpened and better. 

'Are horses real?'

He looked up at him. That's what he called this, and it sort of looked like a horse, but not really. Horses didn't have wings, and nothing was this colorful, right? But he wasn't sure which animals were really real, and which ones were extinct.

 

At the question, Dave hesitated because if it was anyone else he'd have cracked a joke and not answered seriously but Dirk deserved an answer and it sucked that he didn't know any better. Pulling out his phone Dave nodded. 

"Yeah little man, horses are real you can ride them and they're really fast, faster than any human, look." He said turning to google images of horses before handing Dirk his phone to inspect. "They're not as cool as your toy because he's from a cartoon," He leaned forward to grab the DVD that he'd brought Dirk and pointed out the Rainbowdash drawing on the cover. 

"We can watch it later if you want?" He asked hoping that if he managed to distract Dirk with a movie he would have to receive a call from his lawyer in front of the kid. 

Seeing Dirk's reaction he asked, "Do you like animals Dirk?" just trying to see what the other's grasp on them was. Having seen nothing but crows for the first few years of his life Dave had flipped the fuck out at the size of Jade's dog when they'd first met and then he'd fallen in love with the fluffy fucker after a weekend party at Jade's in which the dog was far better company than a thriving mass of alcohol driven teens who gave Dave multiple panic attacks over the weekend. 

Dogs were dope, Rose argued for cats but whatever. Maybe he could get Dirk a fish without his landlord losing his shit about the no pets rule.

 

Dirk looked at the similarities between the plush and the drawing on the cover before nodding. 

He'd never had anything in real life that'd also been in his books. He didn't know things in books could be in real life like this. It was amazing, and a little scary, but mostly he was excited. He kept the tight grip on his toy, apparently unwilling to let it go. 

He'd still choose Dave over it, but the toy was now second in his list of favorites. Dave was first. 

He moved the pictures on the screen for a while, surprised at how it worked. It wasn't really like a book, but it sort of was. It was...a lot. That's what it all really was. But it was cool, and he stopped when it got to be too much. 

He grabbed his paper and pencil again to write out a response, Rainbow Dash safely in his lap. 

'I didn't know that any were alive. I didn't know you were alive.'

And beyond that, the final question that'd been eating him up. 

'If we belong together, where were you, before?'

 

The first part of Dirk's statement just made Dave sad, the second made him feel sick.

Swallowing the lump in his throat Dave turned Dirk in his lap to face him and said, "This is another adult conversation Dirk, and it's one that makes me really sad, okay? But you're a big boy and I know you can handle it. So," With a deep breath, Dave did his best to recite the worst day of his life to Dirk. 

"I was with you before, when you were REALLY little, and I looked after you and gave you toys," He poked Rainbowdash, "and you didn't have any scars because I kept you safe so only I got scars." Fuck this was hard. "But I wasn't much older than you and an adult should have been looking after both of us to keep us safe, but our adult was a bad one who hurt me and didn't look after us." He paused, "Do you understand so far Dirk?"

With confirmation from the smart kid Dave continued.

"Then one day another bad adult took you from me, a stranger who didn't belong with you, but we were both little and I didn't know where he'd taken you and you were too young to call out for me. You couldn't really talk then either, but that was because you were little and still learning. So the bad adult hid you from me in that bunker because he was sick and thought it was the right thing to do, but he was wrong and you got hurt because he didn't take care of you properly and left you alone." Dave's voice cracked and he had to pause to breathe and continue.

"That's why I said I lost you because you should have been with me this whole time so I could look after you." He said praying Dirk wouldn't hate him now. "But now I've found you again so I can be with you now as soon as the doctors say that you're healthy and I can look after you on my own." He waited with baited breath for Dirk's reaction heart pounding in his rib-cage, trying to break free and hug Dirk like every other fibre in his body screamed for him to do so.

 

Dirk had had a hard time understanding the concept of adults when he was alone in the bunker. He wasn't sure when he was or wasn't an adult. He was bigger than he had been, did that make him an adult?

He understood better now. He was so small compared to everyone else, and they were so, so big. He wasn't sure he could ever be big like them, but he didn't know. 

He didn't understand a lot, but he could go along with what Dave was talking about. He was trying really hard to make sense of all of it, but it was...difficult. 

Dirk couldn't imagine his skin without all the scars, but he supposes there might have been a time when he had none. He thinks maybe Dave's lying about that, but just a little. Still, he's sad that Dave got his scars because an adult wasn't a good adult. 

What shocked Dirk most was that there had been an adult. He didn't remember any adult. He...surely he'd remember someone else being inside his home?

The thought that there was another person, an adult who lived in his home was scary. Really scary. Dirk had been alone all his life, hadn't he? Well, apparently not. Dave had him when he was really little. And...maybe he can spot the pattern. 

 

It was a lot to understand and Dave would come to terms with the fact that he'd have to explain this concept a lot to Dirk as they grew up but that was as detailed as he'd get for now, he didn't want to scare Dirk. Although as the other hugged the toy to his chest it looked as though Dave had already managed that. Nice going Dave, give the kid you've been looking after a nice background on your sob story. 

What were you thinking trying to explain kidnapping and neglect to a kid who didn't even know horses were real- What was Dirk doing at his sleeve?

Dirk kissed Dave's scars and the adult lost it. One night stands called Dave's scars hot or sexy, Rose said they were nothing to be ashamed of and at the same time systematic displays of abuse, John just looked at them whenever they were exposed and Jade pitied him for them. Dirk was the first to kiss them and Dave nearly fucking swooned. 

Hugging Dirk close Dave tried to calm his breathing for the other's head resting against his chest but in the end Dave simply pressed his face into the top of Dirk's head and tried to stop crying as he hugged the younger to him like a poor man with paranoia who'd just been handed the most expensive diamond on the planet. 

Trying to calm down Dave wiped his face and brought Dirk's forearm, which he knew the other war trying to hide, to his lips and kissed them in tern. "I love you, Dirk."

He knows a list of things that are bad and will hurt and leave scars. If he met someone smaller, he could pass on the list so they didn't have to make it themselves. Was that was Dave was talking about? Their adult didn't pass down their list, so Dave got hurt. But Dave was going to pass his list onto him so he didn't get hurt.

It was frustrating. Dirk decided right then and there that scars were definitely a bad thing. Maybe that's why Dave hid all of his. Dirk hugged the toy tighter, thinking of ways to hide his own. 

Speaking of, though. Dirk reached out with one hand, pulling Dave's arm close. He then tugged at the sleeve, shoving the lines of scars all on his arm. He pressed a kiss to them, like Dave had to his head last night. 

Then he just laid against him, listening to his heartbeat. He wished he could have been with Dave instead of in his home. He wish he didn't have scars, and that no one else had ever been in there at all.

 

Dirk just pressed tight against Dave. He didn't like the other crying- is that how you felt when people cried? Dirk wanted to make it better, but he knew that you had to let it out. Sometimes, it was a lot. Thinking about Dave leaving was a lot, thinking that he could have been there the whole time was a lot. 

Maybe thinking about the bad adult was a lot for Dave. That was okay, because thinking about the bad adult in his home was a lot for Dirk too. He thought about what Dave said, and he traced words on the skin, on the scars. He traced them because he didn't want to move away and get more paper. 

N-O-M-O-R-E

That's what Dave promised him, no more scars. And Dirk wasn't an adult, but he was bigger than he was before, so it could count. He would make sure Dave got no more too, he'd share all the lists he could find in the world with Dave. Then they'd be safe and happy together.

 

No more. Dirk was such an amazing child. Did everyone feel this way about their children or younger siblings? No, EVERYONE couldn't or there wouldn't be abusive shitheads like Bro in the world. But that didn't matter because Dave kissed the top of Dirk's head again and composed himself, cheeks flush with emotion as he took a deep breath and smiled at his little brother. 

"Yeah little man, that shit show's over." He agreed. 

"What do you think of the shade's huh?" He asked, wanting to change the topic and work towards his agenda just a little bit as he brought them up. "You look rad as hell in them my dude, and you're looking at the phone like a champ, they're doing the job right? You're eyes don't hurt looking at the light?" he asked but because he didn't want Dirk to catch on to where he was taking this he said. "Do you want to see a picture of when I was your age and wore them?"

 

Dirk shook his head when asked if the light bothered him. They worked really well, they were smaller and his size, but they pointed out and covered more than the other shades. He'd even been able to keep his eyes open when the doctors had to come in and turn on the light and look at him. 

Phone. That was the word for the little thing Dave carried around. Dirk moved, flipping the page and getting a new piece of paper. He wrote down the words he needed to remember. There was Dave Strider spelled out at the top, very first. Phone was under it. Needle was another one, but he put a frowny face by it. Monitor, developmental issues, external contamination, undernourishment. All things said around him, but none he really understood yet.

Horses went under that, then animals. Bunker, that was a new one. 

Finally, he had everything he couldn't remember off the top of his head, the things he heard but needed to look up written down. 

Then he was ready to look at the pictures, so he nodded and sat patiently, ready for Dave to show him.

 

Dave smiled and nodded at the knowledge that the shades were doing their job. "Sweet." 

However, as Dave read Dirk's list, admittedly it took a second for him to decipher everything, a frown tugged at his lips. He was going to have a word with the doctors. Sure they were busy and probably didn't want their names attached to such a high-profile case because of the risk of backlash, but they could sure as shit take the time to talk about shit outside of his little brother's room. 

"Cool little man," he said holding the phone out for both of them to see and opened his gallery app, he didn't want to ruin the mood again with heavy shit so the list remained unmentioned. Scrolling through MANY photos there were blurrs of greys and middlefingers, pictures of four adults that seemed to turn into kids as Dave kept scrolling standing together and smiling. 

Images of Dave now and past, the younger he got the more he resembled Dirk, without the vitamin D deficiency, and finally he stopped at the oldest dated photos and tapped on the first, it was young Dave in the pointy shades with the peace sign up thinking he was hot shit as he chilled on the bed with a split lip. "I was just a little bit older than you there, I think I was 11?" He asks not expecting an answer from Dirk.

Explaining age was another thing Dave had to do.

Regardless he flicked forwards through a few photos to give Dirk the idea and let the other look, forgetting that if he scrolled far enough there were a few photos of him holding Dirk that he hadn't been able to bring himself to delete just like the box of baby photos that he had of Dirk hidden away.

 

Dirk never really understood the numbers attached to people, but he was excited as he tugged on Dave's shirt, pointing to the screen. 

Dave looked so much like him! Or he like Dave? Dave's hair looked nicer. Dirk always cut his own, leaving it short and spikey and not at all even. He didn't like it when it got too long, and cutting it didn't hurt, just like cutting his nails didn't. 

If Dave was his size once, though, then that meant Dirk had a lot of growing up to do. Dave was so big! And he looked so small in the pictures. 

It helped calm the child some, however. If Dave had been so small, like Dirk, and he'd still been able to protect him, then he could protect Dave now, even if he was small now.

He liked the thought. He didn't like the familiar red against the picture of his brother's skin, though. He knew splitting your lip hurt a lot. It didn't happen often to him, but plenty of things had fallen on Dirk to get the same result.

He reached up and gently touched Dave's bottom lip, making sure it was alright in real life before he went back to scrolling through the pictures.

 

As Dirk reached up a soft 'humm?' escaped Dave as he questioned what the other was doing and despite the urge to lean back, because heads and faces, in general, were such obvious weak spots, he let Dirk check the smooth and well-healed skin on his lips. Realizing what the other was doing Dave smiled to himself and kissed Dirks fingertips before letting the child resume scrolling.

Dave had missed kissing Dirk, just the small displays of affection that Bro couldn't warp or punish behind closed doors. Dave had been taught at the time that kissing dudes of any age was gay and he shouldn't do it by his hypermasculine father, at least he assumed Bro was his biological father despite the nickname.

As you kept scrolling Dave's glasses changed to aviators, a sign they'd made it past his 13th birthday with the gift from John, and then Dave was holding a baby. Dirk to be exact. Same tan skin, only Dirk's was flawless, and Dirk actually looked well fed if not chubby because Dave had made fucking sure the other had two bottles of milk a day among whatever he could get Dirk to eat. The baby was blonde and didn't have hair much tidier than Dirk's now, but the amber eyes were unmistakable. 

Dave's breath hitched a little at the sight, he hugged Dave closer and asked, "Do you know who that baby is?" as he tapped Dirk on the chest.

 

Dirk shook his head when asked about the child. He was curious, though. Was anyone ever really that small? They seemed so tiny when held by Dave. 

The amber eyes were the same, but Dirk wasn't aware how rare they really were. Not since he saw all of outside and realize how many people there must be. He assumed it was just another eye color. 

Besides, the child was darker than him. Dirk didn't realize that if he was exposed to the sun that he'd naturally be a fairly tan child, and the lack of pigment was just from a severe lack of exposure to any sort of UV lighting. 

W-H-O-?

Dirk traced out the letters again. He liked doing that best with the smaller words, because writing meant leaving Dave's grip and leaning over to grab paper while tracing meant staying right here, where it was safe and warm.

 

Dave smiled softly to himself at Dirk's question. "That's you Dirk, or it was before you grew up. That was one of the first photos I took of you." He admitted, he'd been scared Bro would take Dirk away again up until that point and hadn't kept any real record of Dirk until then."

Look you have the same special eyes." He coaxed wanting Dirk to believe him. "Remember I told you I had you before, well that's how little you were when I had you and that's why you don't remember me looking after you. Because you were so small." He squeezed Dirk a little, "but you're getting bigger and stronger now aren't you? And have your own cool shades to protect your eyes." 

"As you're doing such a great job of dealing with the phone can I ask a favour Dirk?" He said playing it up like he was asking for himself and not the others benifit. "It's really dark in here and I want to be able to see you better, my eyes aren't as good in the dark as yours." He pointed to the curtain at the end of the wall "can I open that very end curtain just a little bit?" He asked softly. 

"I know you'll be able to handle it because you can handle adult things so well." He said defiantly buttering the child up because the more 'adapted' Dirk seemed around Dave the sooner it would be that Dave could take him home.

 

Dirk looked at the picture of the baby, and he almost couldn't believe it was him. He was so tiny, itsy bitsy and he didn't have any scars. His face looked bigger, that was for sure. 

He stared for a long time, trying to decide if Dave was lying a little bit or not. He decided he wasn't, eventually, and smiled. He liked the thought that Dave had him beofre the scary bad person did. 

And now Dave had him again. He didn't want that part to change, not really. Not when things were so good. He just wished things had got to be good before they turned bad like this...

He looked at the curtains, unsure. But...he wanted to do good things for his brother. And if Dave needed more light...

He couldn't be in the sunlight, not for long. That had been a warning, a worry. He'd burn super easily at first, he had to wait and be exposed and wear lots of sunblock at first. But he could stay in the path of light that fell through the window without getting hurt, probably. 

Not that he wanted to, but he didn't like the thought of not being able to go somewhere in the room that'd hurt him. 

So, he eventually nodded, putting on another brave face for Dave, but clutching his toy tight to his chest.

 

Dave knew about the risks to Dirk's health, he'd fucking revised Dirk's medical files like his GPA depended on it but this was just the curtain at the very end of the room and he wouldn't even open it halfway, no just enough to let light into the room but it wouldn't touch Dirk unless the kid ran straight into the light, not even at midday.

With a kiss to Dirk's temple Dave lifted the child onto the bed and walked towards the curtain he'd gestured at after getting Dirk's confirmation. 

He pulled it back a little allowing a slither of sunlight into the room so that he could see better, the rays immediately falling onto Dave's skin before he turned back to Dirk and asked, "Is this okay for you, little man? It's not too much?"

 

Dirk glared at the streak of sunlight coming in, but it didn’t hurt. Not like before- it was more like the candles in his home. He relaxed some, though he held his hand out and made a motion for Dave to come back. 

He didn’t answer the questions, but his reaction would hopefully speak on his behalf. He just wanted Dave back now. 

He was pretty tired from staying up and waiting for the man, but things were okay now and he wanted to spend as much time as he could with Dave before he had to leave. Dirk didn’t want Dave to leave at all, but without knowing time, he was pretty sure that he could leave at any point.

 

Smiling softly Dave returned to Dirk once the child seemed comfortable with the new light source. He walked back over to Dirk and took the kids hand as he sat back down on the chair, "So what do you want to do, little man?" He asked wanting what time he had with Dirk to be doing something the other actually wanted him to do. 

"You want to talk more? Ask me shit? Or I can show you some dope shit you haven't seen before." He asked before a nurse pushed the door open with a plate of food for Dirk, "Lunchtime, Mr Strider-" She noticed Dave and paused, "Uh, jr." She finished walking towards Dirks' bed and Dave moved the box off Dirk's bedside table so that she could set the typical hospital food tray down in front of the child.

 

Dirk frowns when he realizes the nurse came in. He despised the nurses.

To be completely fair, none of the medical staff was malicious or even mean. They didn’t know Dirk understood much of anything because the boy refused to show that he did. They weren’t sure Dave was good because Dirk would now only interact with the man, now that he’d met them. Kind people doing their jobs, but Dirk despised them from taking him from his home and poking and prodding and everything else. 

Dirk poked at the tray of food, refusing to look up at the nurse. He acted like he hadn’t even heard her. He didn’t even want to interact with Dave until she left.

 

At the pursed-lipped look the nurse gave Dirk and the kids utter refusal to acknowledge the woman Dave frowned, the fuck was this? Dirk was formally dubbed the raddest kid on the planet these nurses should have been eating up Dirk time like it was a winning lottery ticket. 

The woman looked at Dave like she wanted to offer him food but he wasn't a patient so he just struck up a conversation with her. "Don't worry about it, I'll hook myself up with something from the store in a while once Dirk's good, could you do me a solid and tell me which floor its on though?"

"It's just on the first floor," She said with a sigh and a small smile, "Just a right around the corner of the elevator." 

Dave nodded, "Cool, thanks. I guess more time passed than I realized." Then he turned his attention to Dirk, poking the kid on the knee. "Yo, Little man. When someone gives you something like a toy or food usually say thank you, I get that you didn't know and you don't have to speak it but could you thank the nice lady for bringing you your lunch?" 

"I get you didn't say thank you to me because I'm your big bro and you're gonna get shitty as hell with me in years to come but no one likes a rude kid so do you wanna say thank you?" He asked not sure how Dirk would respond.

 

Dirk glared up at Dave. This was utter betrayal. What was this? The nurses and doctors were mean. They always did awful stuff Dirk didn’t understand. They’d say what they were doing sometimes, but he didn’t get it- he’d never been around humans. Even when they said what they were doing, he didn’t get it and didn’t like it and he had no way of telling them that. 

At first, it was because he was so frozen he couldn’t properly say no. And then even when he did say no (shake his head), they still gave him shots and stuff. They cooed and talked him through it, but they still did it!

He didn’t understand it was for his own good, or that they had to do this sort of thing. He just understood that they were awful. 

Instead of saying thank you, he put the toy back on Dave’s lap, giving it back before he hid under the blankets. 

Dave said he’d protect him, and he wanted him to be nice to the nurses? Dave could lie about stuff, but not about that kind of stuff. Did Dave want him to be nice to people like the scary man too? Dirk didn’t want either of them if that was the case.

 

It was safe to say that that wasn't the reaction Dave had expected. 

The toy was dropped into his lap and Dave frowned as Dirk hid away. He looked at the Nurse and frowned but she gave him a sympathetic smile and said she'd be back in a while for the tray before leaving. The door clicking softly behind her. 

"Damn Dirk, the hell was that?" He asked feeling a little betrayed himself, although he couldn't expect Dirk to act like an adult all the time especially when he didn't even have the understanding of the world that a regular 10 year old did. Still, he sat back in the chair fiddling with the pony plush. "I thought we were having adult conversations, you don't want to talk to me anymore?"

 

That wasn’t fair. Dirk frowned, pulling the blanket a little tighter around him. He didn’t...

One hand reached out blindly to find the pad of paper and pencil before he held both under the blanket, still hidden away from the other. 

‘They’re mean. They have needles and bright lights. You said you’d protect me.’

He tore off the sheet, below the one with his list, and held it out for the other. He didn’t look out from under his paper, just a hand holding out some paper. 

He didn’t like this. He didn’t like that Dave lied to him. It kind of felt like Dave had left again, even if he was right there. But Dirk didn’t want him, didn’t want to belong to him if he was going to make Dirk be nice to mean people. How did you give back a name?

 

"Did that lady bring you needles or bright lights?" He asked rhetorically, although Dirk had yet to learn what that was. "Nah little man, she brought you food, which is pretty nice because your stomach really hurts without food," He assumed Dirk had also experienced starvation. "and you can't survive without it so she's really helping you out right now." He explained although he doubted Dirk was willing to listen. 

Pausing for a while trying to think of the best way to tackle Dirk's tantrum Dave asked, "Dirk do you want to know more about where we are right now?" it took a lot to remember Dirk probably knew next to nothing about the concept of a hospital. 

"We can have an adult conversation about it and I'll tell you but you have to come out and talk to me or I won't do it. I'm not talking to you through your sheets Dirk." His tone wasn't harsh or punishing but firm, in reality, all Dave would do was go outside for a while call his lawyer and get the paperwork for the hospital to say that he could stay the night with Dirk ASAP whilst at the hospital cafe but Dirk didn't know anything outside of the bunker and this room so he didn't know that. 

Dave had no idea how to parent a child or deal with this situation but he'd give it his best shot.

 

Dirk held his breath, forcing himself to calm down so he could think. He had to do this a lot in the bunker, when he was getting frustrated but he couldn’t walk away. 

He wanted Dave. He wanted Dave like he thought Dave was. The idea of losing him was a devastating one. But he couldn’t stay with him if he was going to want to help people that hurt him. 

Dirk knew he needed food, but he didn’t know why he couldn’t do it himself. People giving him food was weird. He didn’t know how to deal with it. They just walked in and let in light and it was bothersome. It didn’t hurt this time, with the curtains open and his shades, but once bitten, twice shy. 

The rational decision that Dirk came to was that he’d have to lose Dave and make sure he kept himself safe, like he had been. He didn’t know where he’d go, without a home and without Dave. Maybe he’d be stuck here forever. But at least he knew how to deal with the nurses and doctors, and they didn’t stay and linger like when Dave was around. He didn’t understand that there were different nurses, different people. He didn’t understand what a hospital was or why he was here and not at his home or anything else about the situation. 

With the information he had, he just kept holding his breath, letting it out before repeating the cycle. He refused to come out, instead holding onto it tighter again.

 

A sigh parted Dave's lips and he set the toy down next to the bundle of blankets that was Dirk and said, "Okay Dirk, I'll see you later." He stood up and walked towards the door leaving his jacket on the back of the seat as he took his phone and bag downstairs so he could eat and set to work on Dirk's paperwork. Letting his footsteps make noise as he walked away so that Dirk could hear him go and call his bluff.

 

Dirk sat under his blanket as he heard the door close. Time was a weird concept, but eventually he stuck his head out. Dave was gone. He knew he left, but...he was gone. 

Dirk didn’t like that. He knew logically that keeping himself safe was more important than missing Dave. 

Even though Dave had never hurt him. Even if Dave was nice and warm and gave things to Dirk. 

It took the child seemingly forever to break. In all actuality, it was a little over an hour when Dirk decided that he’d rather be nice to every mean person and have Dave than be lonely. 

He didn’t know what he could do. Maybe Dave would come back when the hand was on the seven again, but it was so, so far away. 

He ended up writing the man’s name on a slip of paper he’d left and pushing it under the crack of the door. He didn’t know what was out there, but that’s where people came and left from. Maybe Dave was out there and he’d get it and know that it was him. 

He couldn’t be sure, though. He sat by the door, waiting. He’d even be nice if it was a nurse or doctor, even if they had the sharp things they called needles or the cold circle the pressed against him to hear him breath. Even if they opened the curtains up all the way and make it hurting bright, as long as they could bring Dave back.

 

After an hour-long phone call to his lawyer, Dave came to the nurses to flirt a little and get them to print off some papers for him that he had to fill out and inevitably give back to the hospital, half way through this was when a young nurse walked up with a piece of paper in her hand with his name on and a confused expression. 

Seeing this Dave gave the nurses a final smile, leaving the memory stick with his files on with the older nurse who seemed the sweetest on him and walked back to Dirk's room. He'd been worried that he'd break before the kid but Dirk did and the relief was astounding. 

Arriving at Dirk's door Dave knocked before pausing and stepping inside, scanning the room for his little brother without a word, Dave had to pretend like that hour away from Dirk wasn't eating at him inside and see how Dirk reacted to him returning.

 

Dirk jumped up as soon as the door opened and when he saw who it was, he was instantly tugging at the man’s shirt, his arms held up. 

He missed him, he didn’t know being alone could be that bad. He had been crying on and off for the time he’d been here. But it didn’t help as much as it normally did, because it didn’t fix anything. 

Things like this had happened before. Dirk had been upset and broke something that he couldn’t fix. He wanted it back, but he could never get it back because he broke it. He just had to move on. 

He cried at times like that, but it didn’t help. This was the same. He broke it and Dirk was so, so scared that he couldn’t fix it. He felt awful and just wanted Dave back. No matter what, Dave made everything less bad. He made the sun less bad and this room less bad. He’d even made things less bad when Dirk was with him, he guessed from the lack of scars from when he was a tiny baby. And Dirk had almost ruined it forever. 

He was making a noise when Dave came in. Not words, just gasps and sobs. It was the first time, though, and he just hoped Dave would pick him up like before. He can’t believe he let him go.

 

Having expected Dirk to be sulking in bed Dave stood shocked at the sight of the younger sobbing on the floor and then begging to be held. There was no hesitation as Dirk raised his arms and Dave scooped him up, cradling Dirk like a baby as he held the other close. "Hey little man, Dirk, hey I'm here, shhhh~ Shhh~ It's okay."

Rocking Dirk softly Dave closed the door behind him and just held Dirk in the centre of the room wiping away the little boy's tears. "You missed me?" He asked praying that those tears were for him no matter how guilty they made him feel and not because Dirk had tripped or something trivial. 

A kiss was planted firmly on Dirk's forehead and he cuddled the other close. "I'm right here, it's okay, Shhhh- Shhhh- Shhhhhhhh, I'm here for you Dirk. Don't cry." He continued to sooth the other as he sat on the chair, realising that Dirk hadn't eaten anything and pulling the table closer to the both of them as he rocked Dirk back and forth in his arms.

 

Dirk thought that Dave picking him up would help him calm down, but he just got more worked up. He tried tracing sorry somewhere on Dave’s skin, but he was too shakey and he couldn’t get it right. 

And then he just couldn’t do anything right. He couldn’t sign and he needed to apologise or Dave would hate him and leave for real. He nodded when Dave asked if he missed him, though, one hand constantly gripping onto the others shirt. 

Finally, with Dave’s promises and soft voice and kisses, Dirk finally settled down. He was hiding his face against Dave’s shoulder, clinging onto him. He’d missed him so much and Dave came back even though Dirk hadn’t listened to him and made him leave.

 

Kissing Dirk softly on the temple again Dave rubbed the child's back and continued to coo in the child's ear. "I'm here, little man." He said, "I'm here, I'm not going to leave you, not for good, I lost you once I'm going to keep you safe, you're safe. Don't worry Dirk. I'm here with you." He carried on for a little while. 

"Do you want to try and talk to me now little man?" He asked trying to coax Dirk out of his shoulder, but he wouldn't force the child to move. "Will you try and eat for me?" He asked just wanting some sort of reaction from the child, "Hummm?"

 

Dirk refused to move, but he did nod against the man’s shoulder. He had calmed down some, but now he could actually breathe a little more now. 

He ended up pressing a kiss to Dave’s shoulder, right where he was. He didn’t like the ladies and men, but he’d explain why and if Dave didn’t care and still told him to be nice, he would. 

The problem with talking when you couldn’t talk is that Dirk would have to move from his position, and he didn’t want to. He just wanted to listen to Dave. Same problem with eating- if he moved away, Dave might leave again.

 

"Come on little man if you don't eat you won't get strong." He sighed softly at Dirk's reluctance to move and pulled his laptop out of his bag, balancing it on the table after moving the food tray into their laps and putting the my little pony season 1 DVD on to play as he put the tray on the laptop keyboard and picked up rainbow dash for Dirk to cuddle too. 

He hoped as with any kid the bright colours and sounds would entice him, so whilst Dave set up Dirk's private cinema he picked up a sandwich off the tray and offered it to the younger as he continued to rub his back in order to satiate his need to break the silence. "This used to be your favorite show when you were little." He explained, pausing it at the opening titles.

"We can calm down and watch this for a little while, but I'd really like you to eat something Dirk. I'm sorry I upset you, but if you don't tell me what upsets you and why it upsets you then I can't help." He said still offering Dirk the food, "When you talk to me and explain like an adult we get along really well don't we? I know it's hard and we can take a break from being adults for a minute, let's just relax and eat and watch this and then once the show's over we can talk again okay?" He said hugging Dirk to hip and putting on subtitles in the hopes that reading would help Dirk understand. 

Then he sat back and pressed play not ceasing his attempts to get Dirk to eat.

 

Dirk shifted around a little, reluctantly taking Rainbow Dash in return for holding onto Dave. He still stayed pressed against him, but the bright colors really did catch his attention. 

The bunker wasn't really made for a kid. If Dirk were to think about it, he'd realize he was a last minute addition to the bunker, not the main point. The man saved him on a whim, a casual decision to ruin the boy's life, along with his older brother's. Careless and so, so easy with no one watching the children. 

Still, getting to be a kid again for a second was...good. Dirk had been playing adult for so long in his life. It was surprisingly nice to just sit back, lean against Dave and watch something actually made for his age group. 

He found himself getting lost in it pretty easily, hugging the toy tightly to his chest when Rainbow Dash actually came on screen. He took the sandwich from his brother, not even really paying attention to the man. He was aware he was there, wouldn't be so immersed if Dave wasn't rubbing his back or letting Dirk sit against him.

 

Watching Dirk was far better than the actual program although if Dave was being honest it was nice to just sit back and relax with Dirk on his lap like the last eight years hadn't happened, to pretend they were normal, and when Dirk finished the first half of the sandwich Dave passed him the second, and peeled a tangerine for him pressing segment of it into the child's hand as Dirk watched the laptop and Dave watched Dirk. 

The nurses had probably poked their heads through the window in the door and decided that it was best to leave the two alone because 20 minutes later as the first episode was ending the two were still left to their own devices. 

"Feeling better?" Eating a segment of the fruit himself Dave continued, "What do you think? Still, like the show?"

 

Dirk was in wonder as it ended. It was...it was so cool. It was bright and it explained simple concepts that Dirk didn't get a chance to experience on his own in ways he could understand. It caught his attention and used simple words and Dirk loved Rainbow Dash the best. 

He nodded at the question, looking up at his brother with this big grin nearly splitting his face. 

He hadn't even noticed anyone coming in, which was unusual for the child. He was so used to absolute silence, the only thing around the whirring of the machines. People coming in was noisy and bright and awful. But the show as noisy and bright and so, so good that he didn't pay any mind to the things he usually couldn't stop thinking about. 

 

Dave's expression soon mirrored Dirk's because the smile was simply infectious, he was genuinely happy to see the joy in his younger sibling's visage and so he smiled and tussled Dirk's hair a little. "Oh yeah? What did you like, is this guy" He pointed to rainbow dash, "still your favourite?"

The elder Strider didn't want to immediately kill the little guy's buzz at the tv show but still had to go there. "Do you feel ready to talk about earlier now?" He asked in a tone that implied Dirk should talk to him about his reaction to the nurses and that he couldn't avoid the topic much longer. 

He still rubbed Dirk's back affectionately but wanted to understand why Dirk was so cold to the nurses when he clung to Dave like a baby koala, not that Dave had ANY intentions of letting the roles reverse even slightly. He wanted to be Dirk's favourite forever.

He didn't know what other things like that there were, but this was definitely his favourite.


	3. Adult Conversations.

Dirk nodded, clutching Rainbow Dash close again. She was the brightest and had the most colors, and she was loud and talked a lot, like Dave. But she was super nice still. Definitely his favorite. Plus, you know. She was super cool. 

He frowned a little at the mention of talking again, but he moved forward to go grab his paper and pencil. The first page now had some distorted spots, tears when he was trying to write to Dave. 

He flipped to a new page, though, writing it out. 

'They do nice things and talk nice, like you do. But they do stuff that hurts even when I tell them not to.'

He held out the page for Dave to look at. They always talked so nice, so he never knew when they were gonna be nice or mean.

 

Dave read the note and nodded a little, mostly to himself as he understood Dirk's sense of mistrust in the nurses and doctors. 

"Dirk yesterday I told you we were in a hospital, do you know what that means?" He asked already knowing the answer. "It's where people come when they're ill to get better, because you've been alone for so long you have to stay here so that we can make sure that you're not sick and you can come home with me." He tried to explain simply so that Dirk understood.

"I'd take you home with me now but if I did you could get really sick and I could lose you for good so we have to make sure you're well now, which can involve a lot of nasty things like needles and medicine that hurt and make you feel bad. It's not fun but it's to make you better in the long term so that we can be together."

"The nurses aren't trying to hurt you, they want to make sure that you're well on the inside so that I can keep you well once we leave." He said with a smile waiting to see what Dirk understood or he needed to explain better.

 

Dirk still didn't like them. He frowned, reading it over and over again so he could understand. Once he got it, he knew he needed to reply. He didn't quite understand everything that his brother wrote about, but he got the gist enough to understand that they were trying to help. Just in an awful way. 

'They made you leave.'

That was a big one for the child. He held out the new note, frowning up at Dave. That was as damning to him as any crime they could have committed. Making his brother leave him and making him all alone was sort of unforgivable. He didn't understand the health reasons, or hospital policy or anything of the sort.

 

With a small breath of laughter Dave nodded and hugged Dirk a little closer, "Yeah little man, they have to, to make sure you get time to sleep and rest. But also because I have to have special papers to stay with you all night and without them they have to kick me out because they have to keep you safe until I turn up with the paperwork to say I can keep you safe."

"It's taking a little while because I didn't know I'd get you back yesterday, but I'm working really hard for it so I won't have to leave soon." An idea popped into Dave's head and he said, "Actually I asked one of the nurses to print off some of the papers for me, I can go and get them now, real quick so that they can't make me leave as soon as the papers are valid," Valid probably wasn't the easiest word, "um, until they can take the papers that prove I can stay."

"Would you like to come and get the papers with me?" He asked pointing to the door. Dave was pushing Dirk a lot in the time they had together but he needed Dirk to understand that there was more than the bunker, the hospital room and the tiny bathroom he had attached. "It's bright out there, but you've got your shades and I'll be with you and you've managed all the other lights so well with me I'm sure you could do it." There was only artificial light in the office on the second floor so Dave was positive that Dirk would be safe.

 

Dirk stared out into the horrors of the abyss. That was to say, outside. Outside had been nothing to him until now. Was there going to be the same sort of outside like he saw through the window? Were there roads on the other side of the door?

Dirk glared at the patch of sun peaking through. Was there more of /that/? He didn't want to go, then. 

But the other option was Dave leaving him, so. He grabbed up Rainbow Dash and nodded, putting on a brave face. He was getting better at that, he learned. He gripped onto Dave with his free hand, letting the man silently know that he would absolutely be carrying Dirk if he wanted the child to go along.

 

With a soft smile and a nod Dave picked Dirk up with one arm, Dirk wasn't much for a ten year old but he wasn't a baby anymore and so the big brother was positive that he'd be fucking ripped by the time he took Dirk home if he was going to be carrying the kid around everywhere. Honestly, he liked it though and wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world. 

Yet he did need one hand to open doors and pick stuff up so the food tray was left on the end of Dirk's bed. "Now if it's too bright for you cover your eyes and let me know and we'll just come right back here okay? It's okay if it's too bright for now, I'm already so proud of you for being so adult with me." He praised squeezing Dirk into him before pulling the bedroom door open. 

Outside it was bright in contrast to Dirk's bedroom but with the shades on it was easy to adjust to, Dirk had a corner room so that once you opened the door you were looking down a light blue corridor filled with other doors that people in scrubs were walking through or visitors were walking in and out of, and when you turned to the left there was another little corridor section that seemed to open into a larger space that was the reception for the second floor. 

Dave just stood in the doorway however, he didn't stray too far from the dark as he held Dirk waiting to see if the other could handle it or not. Thankfully Dirk wasn't placed in the children's wing because the volume and colours of it may have damn near traumatised the child. "You okay Dirk?" He asked hoping the simple sound of his voice would help the child cope in some way.

 

Dirk shut his eyes tight as soon as the door was open. He pushed his shades up to cover his eyes with his own hand, not knowing what to expect. Really, though, he was just scared of being all the way out. That'd hurt a lot, the first time. 

At his brother's coaxing, though, he slowly lets the shades slide back down into place before he opens his eyes. 

There's a lot to take in. He's staring around at everything in awe, like a kid at Disney Land. Finally, he nods. He still sticks tight to Dave's side, pressing himself close, but this isn't as awful as coming into this place had been. He can make it work, he's sure.

 

"I knew I had the coolest little bro." Dave affirms proud Dirk was this brave before he began walking down the corridor to the left. "Behind all these doors are rooms like yours Dirk," He said trying to help the other understand. "Where other people stay whilst the nurses try to help them get better and make sure they're okay." 

"You should have been taken here when you got these," He traced a hand over Dirk's scars, "So that they didn't hurt for as long but because you were alone I couldn't bring you here to fix the pain," he said a little mournfully. 

"The people in these rooms get needled and prodded too but that's so the nurses can fix them inside before they can go outside again," He was trying to state that the nurses were there to help Dirk as many times as he could. 

"And the doctors here look after a lot of people so there have to be a lot of them." He continued, turning right so Dirk could see the 'lobby' for the floor and the reception desk that three nurses were sat behind, Dave made a B-line for the older woman in a pink hijab who'd been talking to him earlier, "Hey Mrs P, this is my little bro, Dirk, the one I was trying to get the paperwork for?" 

"I think I left the memory stick with it all on when I went to get him," Pretending it wasn't intentional, "I don't suppose you managed to print anything off it for me?" He asked with a smile that wasn't the genuine one he gave Dirk, no. That was a real smile that he couldn't hide this was just for the sweet talking.

The plump older woman chuckled and nodded holding up a finger to tell Dave to wait before she pulled out a file full of paperwork with Dave's memory stick and placed it on the desktop for him before leaning over and smiling at Dirk, "Hello, young man." She said with a smile clearly not recognizing which patient Dirk was for the simple fact that he was out in the light and clung to Dave like any regular shy child would.

 

Dirk wasn’t sure what was going on with the woman, but he had to be nice. He could be nice. There were lots of nurses and doctors and they fixed the insides with the stabbing and they were gonna let Dave stay this time. 

All of that information together was enough to get Dirk to look at the woman instead of avoiding her gaze. She talked nicely, but Dirk tried to take it at face value this time. 

He might be he most paranoid ten year old ever. 

He was still pressed close to Dave, because he was a scared and shy child, but he waved at her, just a little bit. 

He wanted to say he liked the colour she was wearing, the one around her head. He liked the nurses with the bright scrubs, but this was even better. He couldn’t, though, so he just offered a little smile.

 

The woman smiled back warmly and returned the little wave before Dirk got a proud hmm of encouragement from Dave. Now that they were there Dave also asked, "Do you know who's Dirk's doctor is or what times they'll be doing the rounds?" He wanted to talk to Dirk's doctor and get some facts instead of unread emails and access to the others medical files. 

With no one else trying to get custody of Dirk and Dave being a biological guardian it had been simple enough to get the legal side of it sorted out even if Dave had used a few bills to grease the wheels on that one. But the state didn't want custody of Dirk either so they were more than happy to hand over Dirks safety and medical bills to Dave. 

With his answers Dave thanked the lady and walked away before asking, "Hey little man, do you want to walk around a little more or go back to your room?" He spoke softly not minding if Dirk had had enough for the moment.

 

Dirk stayed silent for a long moment, thinking about it. It was bright and loud and full of people out here. But the nurse lady had been a nice person. She smiled when Dirk waved. He didn't like that she could hurt him, but she wasn't- she was making him better, wasn't she?

So out here wasn't too bad. It wasn't good, he didn't like it, but he feels like anything would be not too bad as long as Dave was there. And Dave was here- he was carrying Dirk around. Plus, he'd never been out a door like this. It was kinda cool. 

He pointed towards the lobby, away from his room. More of this. He wanted to know where people went when they left, what happened once they walked out that door and out of the space that they were sharing with Dirk.

 

"Okay little man," Dave agreed, proud his little brother was willing to explore. He was going to take Dirk to a pony ranch at some point that was a fucking fact of life, but Dirk still couldn't go outside yet so he had to be careful not to let the younger too close to the windows, on the other hand Dave was carrying him so he could always turn tail back to the room if he needed.

"So this is where people sit in before visiting hours and they can come and see the people in their rooms." He tried to explain at the rows and rows of chairs, there was a coffee table with a plastic plant on it jammed in the corner with some magazines and a vending machine pressed against the wall with lots of health posters. 

Some people were sat in the lobby in civilian clothes whilst nurses and doctors rushed by. But there was one window on the far side of the waiting area Dave would have taken Dirk down a floor to the shop but there were too many windows on the way, instead, he took the kid to the vending machine. 

"So this is a vending machine, it has snacks and stuff in it that aren't really good for you but taste nice. You have to pay for them though. People do jobs, things other people need them to do, to get money and pay for things - like the nurses it's their job to make us better because we need them to because without them we could get REALLY sick and it would hurt a lot - I work talking to people and sharing news with them, which is where I got this." He hands Dirk a dollar bill that had been crumpled in his pocket.

"That's a dollar which is a type of money, we have to have different types of money because some things are more than others like you? Nobody would ever be able to afford you because you're a Strider and super cool not all the money in the earth could make one Dirk." He chuckled squeezing Dirk just enough to be playful before letting him relax again. "Want me to show you how it works?"

 

Dirk didn’t really understand why they had to wait or what visiting hours were, but he would put it together eventually. Just...not now. 

He was also surprised at the variety of clothing people wore outside his tiny little room. This place was huge and there was so much variety. It was a little scary, but he could just press closer to Dave and hold onto his toy a little tighter. 

Money was another weird and strange concept. As was buying things. He sort of understood, but only in a very loose way. He kind of knew the concept, but not much else. 

He was beaming with pride at the compliment, though. He liked being Dave’s cool little brother. 

He’d have to nail down what family meant later, but this was fine for now. 

He nodded excitedly to see how it worked. He wasn’t even sure those things were really behind there. How much space was there? Was it flat? He’d have to learn to judge distances at some point.

 

Smiling to himself at Dirk's reaction to the compliment Dave straightened out the dollar and placed it in the slot before pulling out another one so that Dirk could choose whatever he wanted and offering it to the child, "Do you wanna try putting the money in?" He asked knowing Dirk was a curious kid. 

Once the cash was in there he tapped on the glass and caught Dirk's attention again, "Okay so, now we have to decide what we want from the machine, is there anything in here you think looks good?" Dave definitely probably maybe shouldn't be giving Dirk candy but he'd missed out on 8 years of sugar highs so fuck it. He already had a bone to pick with Dirk's doctor. "Point it out to me and I'll show you what to do to get it." He said simply.

At Dirk's choice he nodded and directed the child to the key pad "Cool, so you see it has the letter C and the number 3 beneath it? We just put them in here- you wanna press them?" He said pointing at the C and then guiding Dirk's finger to the 3 to make sure he wasn't dissapointed and got what he wanted before the machiene whirred into life and the snack was pushed forwards before dropping to the bottom of the machine.

"So now we just reach in here and grab it," He said, bending down with Dirk still in his arms to grab it, but instead lifted up the door and said, "Can you reach it for me?"

 

Dirk was absolutely a curious kid. He watched the dollar be taken before a number registered on the screen. He was honestly curious how that works, already attending to take apart the machine in his head. 

Dirk was a wickedly sharp kid, in more ways than just surviving. Taking apart and putting back the machines had seemed easy to him. This was another cool thing. He was honestly excited to put the other dollar in, watch as it registered as well. 

Dirk didn’t know what any of these things were. He could read the packaging, but the names on all of them were absolute gibberish, as far as he was concerned. He finally picked out his candy by choosing the most colorful packaging- Skittles. Mostly red, like Dave’s eyes, but it had all sorts of colors on it. 

He watched carefully as Dave helped him press the button, and then wondered in awe again as the candy actually moved and fell. 

He wanted to take this apart. He couldn’t, it was too big and he knew that, but he wanted to. 

He didn’t even think about the candy again until Dave held open the little door for him. He smiled, reaching in to grab it and looking pretty mystified when it was actually there. 

He held it up for his brother to observe, forgetting momentarily that Dave would in no way be as interested in this as he was.

 

Whilst Dirk focused on picking apart every stage of getting the candy Dave focused on the child's awe. He loved his little brother so much it hurt, the wanted to start crying and rocking Dirk to him and rapping to him like he had when he'd taken care of the baby. 

However, he knew he'd look like he needed to be in hospital instead of Dirk if he did so he continued to mind the child with a small smile.

Dirk showed him the candy and Dave laughed because it was just so cute. "Yeah Little man, it's cool huh?" He grinned, "Want to go back to your room and open them?" he asked hoping to avoid more tears if Dirk was to want to go downstairs.

"Then I can fill out the paperwork that lets the hospital know we belong together." He coaxed hoping that a floor was enough of a taste of freedom for now.

 

Dirk had been so concerned with how it happened that the fact that this was candy and he could eat it completely went over his head at first. He looked at the candy now with renewed awe. 

He nodded quickly, holding both his toy and the candy. This was maybe the best day ever. He got a toy and to see a cartoon and Dave came back and now, he had candy! 

Honestly, he was done paying attention to the world around him. Common enough with small children, but zoning out was a luxury for the small child.

 

Chuckling at the child's enthusiasm Dave began walking back towards Dirk's bedroom aware that Dirk's doctor would probably show up at some point over the next hour or so to check on Dirk, at least Dave could be with his little brother for the check-up's Dirk hated so much.

With a wave of thanks to the nurses he rounded the corner and walked back into Dirk's room and DAMN it was dark by comparison. "Wow, Dirk, looks pretty dark in here now compared to outside, mind if I turn on the lights?" He asked aware that the artificial lights didn't have the UV that put Dirk at risk even if the small shaft of sunlight creeping into the room was currently shining at their feet. 

Regardless of Dirk's response Dave gave the little guy another little squeeze, the novelty of he didn't think would ever fade, before sitting back down in the chair and saying, "Let me open those for you, little man." He didn't want Dirk to accidentally spill them all over the floor. 

He also pulled the headphones back out of the box so that Dirk could snack and watch cartoons in his lap whilst Dave filled out the paperwork in peace and then if Dirk's doctor came in he could hopefully talk to them without Dirk listening.

 

Dirk was relieved when they got back to the dark room. It was nice, sort of this huge relief. He still needed the shades even in the dark room, but he got the feeling his brother didn’t. 

It took him a moment before he nodded. Dave took him out and got him candy and was always nice. He thinks he can concede to the lights being in for just a little bit. Besides, he knew if he was upset that Dave would turn them off in a moment. 

Dirk watched the headphones again, curious. He didn’t know what they were, but they looked weird. He would reach out to grab and inspect them, but he was holding onto other stuff he wasn’t willing to let go of quite yet.

 

With the lights on Dave settled Dirk into his lap. He knew it would sting for a while but Dirk just had to get used to lights to function normally even though 'normal' barely seemed to stretch to either of them. 

As Dirk seemed to cling to everything Dave opened his laptop and grabbed a pen from his bag, also pulling out the book on sign language and popping it on the end of Dirk's bed as he was distracted, the kid had enough to focus on for the moment. 

"These are called head-phones, my dude," Dave explained calmly softly coaxing them out of Dirk's clutch before popping them over his ears, Dirk probably wasn't ready for earbuds just yet. "You listen through them so that only you can hear what's playing through them, people wear them to listen to music and cartoons through them so other people who might not like them don't have to listen too."

He plugged the cable into the computer and pressed play so that Dirk could realize that the my little pony theme song wasn't playing for him but the next episode was still rolling. "See?" He asked hoping the other understood as he paused the show again. "Now you're going to wear them like me and watch cartoons whilst I do boring paperwork, sound good?" He offered them to the child, taking them off his head. 

"Want to try the candy as you watch?" He asked, holding his hand out to open them for the kid, reminding Dirk that he could eat the skittles, "I think you'll like them, I do." Who the fuck didn't like skittles?

 

Dirk was good with the idea of watching cartoons. He was excited to see more of the colorful ponies going on adventures, and especially excited to see more of rainbow dash being awesome. 

He wasn’t excited about not being able to hear anything else outside of the headphones. He needed to hear things, didn’t he? He wasn't used to being so closed off, and it made him somewhat on edge. 

But Dave wouldn’t have headphones on. He’d be doing paperwork and listening. Dirk relaxed, if only a little, but put them on. Dave might not know it, but it was a huge amount of faith the child was placing in him. 

He was a little tense at the beginning of the show, but he quickly got lost in it. He observed the skittles before pouring them all out. He then picked through them, eating them by color. First the yellows, then the purples, greens and finally he ate the oranges and reds together. 

As Dirk was separating and eating the candies, the door opened again as Dirk’s doctor slipped in. 

“Hello, Mr. Strider,” he said, apparently surprised someone was still here seeing the child. He flipped through Dirk’s chart and saw the notice and paperwork, though, so he didn’t complain.

 

Dave did appreciate Dirk's trust in him although maybe not to the full degree he should have, as the child relaxed into the cartoons on his knee, whilst on the other knee Dave tried to wrap his head around some of the shit they were asking him to fill out having to google more than one point wondering mournfully what age Dirk would google for information about his kidnapping and the police investigation. Regretfully, he had to text Rose a few times too. 

He was, however, thankful for the light too, he could actually see what he was writing now instead of having to squint at Dirk's scrawl through the dark. When the doctor entered Dave was not surprised, he'd been attentive this time, not like with the nurse last night. When the man greeted an oblivious Dirk, Dave simply greeted, "Hey, I'm Strider seniour, you can call me Dave." He gestured to Dirk, "I'd come and shake your hand but-" I'm not moving him. He shrugged. 

Gently tapping Dirk, Dave paused the show to bring his attention to the doctor. "Hey little man, this is your doctor right? Well he's here now but I wanna talk to him for a while to understand how sick or not sick you are and I'll explain it to you later, yeah? So you can just keep watching for a little bit." Dave cooed because he wasn't going to leave Dirk oblivious to a threat but he also didn't want the little guy forming false conclusions baised on what the doctor said and what he didn't understand.

But Dave couldn't force Dirk to watch the cartoon so he proceeded with the doctor, "So, developmental deficiencies with mal-nutrition, aversion to sunlight, underdeveloped irsis'/ pupil muscles whatever, lack of depth perception and refusal to speak, mild muscle atrophy, what else am I missing doc and how long until he's discharged?"

 

Dirk looked up at the doctor, frowning at the new visitor into their little room. He looked up at Dave, as if the man could make this monster go away, but he knew that wasn't how it worked. He was here to help and it was for his own good and a million other reasons why Dirk couldn't hide away from the doctor forever, but none of them were quite good enough for the child. 

Still, when his brother said he could watch again, he easily chose that over the doctor. It was a good thing, too, because the man had a reputation of being blunt around the hospital. He didn't believe in giving families false hope, instead stating things right as they were. 

An unexpected turn around was always wonderful, but he wouldn't tell a family things would be fine just to leave them planning a funeral the next day. That, in his mind, was crueler than just telling them the truth. 

"Looks like you've read up. You're missing a lack of key nutrients and vitamins, the main one being vitamin D, as well as the harmful effects of being exposed to UV light after so long. He'll need covered and plenty of sunscreen if he's to go out, and no longer than five minutes. However, as much as you've looked into it, those are just the beginning of Dirk's physical issues."

The doctor didn't take on this case because it was easy. He was here because he wanted to do what's best for his patients, and he knew this wouldn't be easy to hear, but it needed to be said. 

"Children don't develop right when removed from other humans, Mr. Strider. There are innumerable studies done about this sort of thing. In fact, it's near a miracle the child's letting you touch him now. Other children raised in similar captivity aren't...they aren't quite right. Dirk's refusal to interact with any staff unless being harmed is unsettling and quite a warning sign. We don't even know what he does and doesn't understand, or what he can and cannot understand. 

"My professional opinion is that Dirk will likely be released fairly soon. Children tend to bounce back better from physical issues than adults. However, if it were up to me, he'd be sent straight to a facility that would deal with people of his psychological state. And, perhaps, when he's much older and craves independence, an assisted living facility. I don't believe I've seen a case this severe where the child went on to live an independent and healthy life.

"I suggest setting these things up soon. Donations are pouring in now as people hear about the poor boy saved from captivity. Those donations won't last forever. So you either need to address the public and create even more around this, or choose to let it die down. Dirk will need a lawyer, and by this paperwork it seems you already have one, but I very much doubt the child won't be granted whatever that scumbag had in his name. 

"However, these treatments and different facilities aren't cheap. You need to decide soon what you want. You could work on sympathy and get him a good home with the sort of accommodations he needs, or you can try taking care of him on your own. If he gets hurt, if you get hurt, though, then I don't know what you'll do."

He stood tall as he spoke, stating things very clearly. It was the logical way things would fall into place. As much as Dirk seemed like a normal child now, they had no way of knowing what was going on in his mind, and since he's only really decided to open up to Dave so far, they'd have no way of guessing at it either.

 

Dave could handle blunt what he couldn't handle was asshole. 

He'd assumed vitamins came under malnutrition but left it be he didn't have a degree in medicine so fuck it. What Dave did have a problem with was the man twisting Dirk's reactions to the nurses on its head. He put his pen and paperwork down and leaned back in the chair in a manner that said, 'oh I'm here to learn but you better shut the fuck up and get schooled when it's my turn'. 

"I'm really well aware of the studies Dr..." He didn't care what the dude's name was anymore but he read the name tag regardless. "You see my little sister was a psych student and guess who helped her study? The thing you're neglecting in those studies my dude is that those children are individual case studies, apart from the mass scale Romanian orphanage epidemic, which means that the child develops differently based on their surroundings post 'captivity'." Dave was going to give Dirk some damn good surroundings.

"The only reason Dirk only responds to the nurses when they're hurting him is that he's scared, he can't talk yet but that's not too unusual for a kid with anxiety and doesn't mean he can't spell, did you ever think to give him a notepad or pencil?" He asked although they both knew the answer.

"Either way," Dave didn't need to get shitty with Dirk's doctor, "The kids not getting institutionalized." He shook his head, "I'll stir up some sympathy cash and send him to a therapist, he'll take whatever meds you and a psychologist recommend, he'll go to a special school once he's used to human interaction - I'll wait for the brain doctor's and a dermatologist's green light on that one though." It was obvious Dave only wanted the doctor's input on Dirk's biological state and not his mental one. 

"But Dirk's gonna have a normal life under the radar." He affirmed, "He's not going to get any better in a token environment like a mental health ward, I don't mind if he's reliant on me for years the only way he's going to have a shot on this little ball of rock we're calling home is if he's integrated into everyday life. He doesn't know any different from his bunker so what makes you think the bright lights of a ward are going to be any better for him?" Dave did kind of want to know the medical professional's opinion but he doubted it would change his own. "He's a smart kid he'll adapt." Dave was sure of it. 

"But you never gave me a time frame for his release," Dave stated needing to know how long he had to instal blackout blinds around his apartment and find a babysitter, maybe Rose or Kanaya could help because Dave couldn't take much longer off work... maybe he could take Dirk to the radio station.

 

The only real difference between malnutrition and vitamin deficiency was the treatments, honestly, but in Dirk's case it seemed an important distinction. The doctor sense that his advice wasn't welcomed, though, so he listened to the other and nodded. 

He hoped it worked out the way Dave was describing, really. No one would wish that on a child. But he also needed to do his part to inform the man of the possible outcomes before they both ended up getting hurt because he wanted someone back who maybe never really existed in the first place. 

Still, having done what he felt he could without getting into some serious issues, he flipped through the charts again. 

"For Dirk's release, let's see....he's taking well to the vaccinations. Getting back on a fairly healthy diet. So long as you continue those regiments, give him the proper medication and are willing to bring him in for frequent checkups, I can't imagine him having to stay longer than a few more days. Three, at least, to make sure this next round of medication goes off without a hitch. After that, he's free to go, but I'd suggest he stay for at least a week, if only to slowly acclimate him to newer surroundings."

He looked up at Dave again, seeing if that better answered his question.

 

Dave's heart swelled at the doctor's words and he nodded. "That's great news, I'm still gonna haul ass outta here with the little dude as soon as he's ready because I want him to get used to my place more than a hospital room, I don't intend for either of us to be spending a lot of time around here Doc." He spoke to the other seemingly less standoffish at the good news. 

The strider hadn't realized how protective he'd become of the little guy, of course, he'd always been protective but he hadn't meant to hop on the doctor's dick- metaphorically Dave was straight... probably... kinda not really... the doctor wasn't his type...

"But I've still gotta ask, how long do I let him out in the sun and how regularly do I take him for check-ups, weekly, monthly and then annually?" He knew he wouldn't have had to take a regular kid that often but Dirk would have to be tested for his reactions to the rest of the world so Dave wanted to know immediately. No pretenses.

He'd have to start introducing Dirk to people too, maybe he could get Rose to visit? Or John was a possibility... would Karkat babysit Dirk in the hospital so he wasn't lonely when Dave had to go back to work in a days time? He didn't know but he wanted to find someone. He had to actually be able to afford looking after Dirk after all.

 

The doctor nodded, looking down at his notes. He made a small noise, some hum, before he finally spoke. 

“Let him in the sun, but for short intervals- no more than a half hour to begin with. He needs reacclimated, but all weather is new to him. The sun, wind, rain, snow. All brand new things. The sun is necessary for him, but use caution bringing him out- cover, sun screen. Don’t let a cloudy days or other weather fool you, the UV rays are still there.”

It was the typical advice he tended to give for weather, just extreme. 

“Check ups will be weekly until we can see how he’s adjusting. I’d say for a few months, but it depends entirely on Dirk. We’ll make sure forms are sent directly to CPS, to make sure they’re aware you’re doing what you need to. However, you also need to be aware that any time you miss will reflect badly not only on you, but on Dirk’s health.”

A pause, then, a very small smile. 

“Of all things, though, I doubt that will be a worry.”

Dirk caught a few snippets of works as they spoke, but he was mostly just glad to ignore the doctor like he wanted without making Dave mad. However, he was getting a little impatient with how long they were talking, pausing the video like he’d seen Dave done and looking up at his brother.

 

Dave nodded making a mental list of things he needed to get before Dirk was released SPF 50 sunscreen, children's clothes, maybe an etch-a-sketch for the kid? Whiteboard? He needed to clean out his storage room and get Dirk a bed, toys, time cards and animal cards to see if Dirk knew what was what before he even considered play dates. 

He could feel himself turning into a young mom. Whatever he could rock yoga pants and a Starbucks. 

It was when Dirk began trying to gain Dave's attention once more that he began paying attention and stopped listing everything he needed to remember for Dirk. Noticing Dirk's eyes on him Dave removed the headphones and explained with a smile, "Your doctor says that all the needles say you're not sick and that you can come home with me soon little man." Dave said with a grin.

"But they don't say you're healthy yet either so we're going to have to be careful and I'm going to be a good adult for you so we will have to come back every once in a while to make sure you get healthy and not sick once you're with me." He smiled.

"Do you understand?"

 

Dirk brightened up at not needing to be here, at going home with Dave and being able to be with him all the time. He liked that Dave was going to stay here, hopefully overnight, but Dave didn't feel right in here. There was something about him that didn't fit in with the hospital. Dirk didn't feel like he quite fit in either. 

But the bunker had been his home, and it fit him. But, it wouldn't fit him and Dave. It wasn't where they were supposed to be, it didn't feel right with another person. So they needed somewhere else, and apparently Dave had somewhere where they could both be. Going there eventually sounded perfect. 

Dirk nodded before moving. He grabbed the paper again, choosing the pen before settling back. The doctor hadn't seen the child move or interact that much yet. Dirk ended up writing for a long time, but when he was done, it was a picture of a little trophy. Dirk didn't quite understand what it was, but he knew that they were given when you did good. He also didn't fully understand that they were three dimensional or even real, but still. 

It was a picture of a trophy with the words "good adult" written on it that he gave to Dave. Dave talked about a lot of bad adults, like the man that took him or the adult that wasn't watching them in the first place. Apparently, being a good adult was hard, so Dave deserved a trophy for it.

 

Sharing a slightly confused look with the Doctor at Dirk's reaction to the news Dave let Dirk draw whilst handing the doctor his finished paperwork and asking a couple of questions about staying the night with Dirk. Dave did, however, give Dirk his full attention once the paper was thrust towards him and after a second that it took to process the gift Dave laughed unable to stop himself before hugging Dirk closer. 

"Thanks, little man." he said with an honest smile, taking the piece of paper and folding it up, "I'll keep it nice and safe in here, thank you." He smiled putting the drawing in his wallet like a proud father before hugging Dirk close to him again. "You know how we spoke about using a language without words?" He asked having already learned a little bit of sign language. "Well to say 'thank you' in it you use your hands like this," He demonstrated holding his fingers straight and bringing them up to his chin and then down in an arch. 

"Can you say thank you to the doctor with me for sharing the good news with us?" He asked with a smile, he didn't want to have another fight with Dirk so he added, "And for letting me stay with you tonight?" to sweeten the pot.

 

The doctor caught a glimpse of the drawing and was a little set back. They had no clue how much Dirk knew about...well, anything. They were surprised he understood language- he’d never given any indication that he did. 

Dirk just smiled as he was hugged tight, though, letting himself be squeezed a little both times. He liked that- liked the pressure and everything around him feeling safe and warm. Hugs were kind of like when he’d squeeze himself into little spaces in the bunker and hide away in the dark and pretend he was somewhere else- usually in outer space. 

He though for a while that maybe outer space was right outside that little bunker door. He had no clue about the huge world and everything and everyone in it. 

The thought of protesting crossed his mind, but he put it out pretty quickly. Dave leaving was officially the scariest thing to the child- scarier than doctors and nurses. So he turned to the doctor and mimicked the motion. 

The doctor seemed a lot surprised by that. But he finally cracked a smile, something rare for the older man. 

“You're welcome,” the doctor said, doing the sign right back. 

While not the sign for “You’re welcome” it was a far more typical response to the sign of thank you rather than anything else. He noticed the book at the end of the bed and addressed Dave. 

“You know, my youngest granddaughter was born mute. There’s a place downtown that teaches sign language to families. It’s free- they work solely off donations. It was a good course- everyone from my other grandchildren to myself could understand it. I could point you in its direction. Might be useful if you’re not used to teaching it or you’re just learning yourself. I’m sure they’d be willing to accommodate Dirk in more private classes.”

 

Smiling softly Dave radiated pride as Dirk said thank you. He knew Dirk didn't like the doctor but he was honestly proudly of the child for doing so anyway. Dirk would learn in time that sometimes apologising and thanking although you didn't want to or truly mean it was necessary. 

Dave smiled, "That sounds great, thanks, I really don't know much other than whats in the book. Can I get the details off you later?" He asked aware that Dirk wanted his attention now too. "Unless you need the little man for something?" He asked hoping it wasn't more needles. "Oh and are they're any rules for family staying the night?" He knew he'd just signed a waver but he meant the more unofficial ones.

 

“Sure thing. I was just coming in to check on Dirk. His blood tests came back better- he’s starting to adjust to eating food that isn’t dehydrated or canned. I’ll put in a order for the nurses to expand his diet some, though it looks like you already have.”

He looked pointedly at the bag of Skittles, but he didn’t seem concerned. 

“If he can keep it down, he can have it, though. Of course, keeping in mind a proper, balance diet for a child his size. When planning these things out, take into account his weight, not his age. He’s below the growth curve. As for family staying the night...it’s fairly straight forward. Most children have someone with them while they’re staying. Just be courteous to staff and you’re generally golden. A rule it seems little Dirk’s picking up on.”

It wasn’t said with malice, and Dirk actually cracked a kind of smile at the doctor. He was....okay. When he didn’t have needles.

 

Blushing a little at the comment about food Dave nodded, he hadn't exactly intended to break whatever diet the doctor had him on, just reward Dirk for being so good and going outside with him. He wanted to say 'dude I survived on chicken nuggets, pizza, apples and Doritos for the first 10 years of my life the little man will be fine', but that probably didn't install hope for Dave's parenting/ guardianship (he didn't want to be Dirk's dad after all).

As a kid the only time he'd had veggies were at daycare, which was the first time child services looked into Bro, Dave had been the only kid not to protest at the healthy elements to the meals, he'd thought they were great; mostly because his body was probably screaming for nutrients. And he still loved eating healthy now, admittedly Dorritos and apples were still core factors of Dave's diet but that didn't change anything. 

Nodding at the doc's input Dave smiled and nodded, "So you're all good on the inside little man, that's great." Dave praised although it wasn't really something Dave could control. "What do you wanna do now Dirk? Watch more cartoons or shall we try and learn a bit more sign language together so you can talk to the nurses a little more?" 

He knew it must be getting later in the day and once it was dusk he'd ask Dirk if he wanted to go down to the next floor in the elevator with him, so Dave could get some food without leaving him and maybe get some supplies from Jade to stay the night if she made good on her promise.

 

The doctor took his leave shortly after. He might actually be glad to be wrong about this one. Dave seemed like a good enough man, if stubborn as all get out. That’s probably what Dirk needed, though. 

But mostly, he thinks, Dirk just needed his brother. 

Dirk knows that it would probably make Dave happy if he talked to nurses more. But...he was really enjoying the cartoons. He looked between the laptop and the book at the end of the bed, trying to decide. 

He grabbed his toy tighter, finally just looking up at Dave and shrugging. He didn’t wanna choose because he didn’t want to disappoint Dave. He’d do either, but he had a preference of one over the other.

 

The doctor took his leave and Dave watched Dirk with a small smile. He could see the gears working in the child's mind Dirk was as open as any young child despite being separated from the rest of humanity for so long, in fact, that probably made Dirk even easier to read, he didn't know how to lie yet. 

Chuckling at the spectacle of the child not wanting to work, it was as though Dave had asked the little guy to do homework, Dave hugged Dirk close and kissed his forehead before pulling the table in front of both of them. "It's okay to tell me what you do and don't want to do, little man." Dave explained affectionately. 

"Sometimes we have to do shit we don't like for our own good, like take needles, but other times we don't and this is one of those times. You've been so good today, Dirk, I'm so proud of you." Dave praised, choosing to neglect the slight tantrum from earlier; they'd moved past that. "Let's watch some more cartoons for a while, until it's time for dinner, then I'm going to have to go grab some food, you can come with me if you'd like?" He said leaning forwards, knowing Jade was going to text him at some point with all the shit he'd forgotten to take with him this morning, to press play on the cartoon. 

He hugged Dirk closer again, "Thank you for being good to the doctor," He whispered next to Dirk's ear as the cartoon started up from where Dirk had paused it, Dave removing the headphones so they could both watch and cuddle. Something Dave was finding made him VERY happy even if the plot of almost every episode was exactly the same.

 

It was still all a wonder to Dirk. The plot was easy and he liked seeing problems be set out and solved without any drama. He'd been exposed to far too many things that something as simple and easy as cartoon ponies to get boring to him that quick. 

He liked being good and getting these rewards. He was learning the correlation between how you acted and how others acted towards you. It didn't seem to matter at first, no matter what he did the nurses and doctors were still mean, but he knew now that they had to be. That it was okay and they were just doing what was good. 

And he knew that there were worse consequences than doctors and nurses for misbehaving. He was happy to just sit and cuddle and watch the cartoons. He got excited when things went right, grabbing and squeezing Dave's hand, or when there was the anxious moments of doubt he'd wrap Dave's arm tighter around him, curl against the man's chest. 

He was open and openly expressive. While they were watching, he even laughed. He actually made a noise that wasn't just sobbing from earlier and he hadn't even realised at first.

 

Dave's heart warmed at all of Dirk's little quirks, the kid could climb all over him, Dave didn't care, so having the other silently demand Dave's embrace was something that the big brother adored, it sent him on a memory trip to the little grabby hands Dirk made as a baby and he zoned out remembering raising Dirk the first time until Dirk laughed and Dave had to hold his breath so he wouldn't explode from excitement. 

He hugged the other to him, determined to keep him close and do a better job raising him than last time before his phone chimed capturing his attention too. "Hey, Dirk, can we pause for a second?" He asked aware the child knew how to do it himself now. "I've got a friend downstairs who has some stuff for us." He explained, "She really wants to meet you, her name's Jade and she's been my friend for a very long time, okay? She's nicer than the doctor so give her a wave okay?" He asked.

"She's downstairs waiting for us on the lower floor," He said, trying to explain although Dirk probably had no concept of what stairs even really were. Maybe he'd hold back on the elevator for the moment and use the stairs. "I need to get some food too before the nurses bring yours." He added, "Coming with me?" He asked showing he was going one way or another. He'd text Jade to meet them in the hospital corner store where he could grab a sandwich or something for dinner.

 

"got it!! :)"

Jade sent the reply text once she knew where they'd be meeting. She was so ready to do this! She had everything Dave had forgot and then some, though the "some" was mostly stuff for Dirk. Poor kid absolutely deserved a lot more, and she was on the "protect the youngest Strider" squad. 

Plus, she'd been friends with Dave for like, ever! She knew how awful it'd been for Dave when Dirk disappeared, and now she was so excited the boy was back and safe. 

Dirk frowned a little when he had to pause it, but he nodded. He didn't get "downstairs" or stairs at all, really, but if Dave liked this person and they were better than the nurses and doctors, he bets he'll like them too. He even likes the one nurse, now, because she seemed really nice to Dave. 

He just grabs onto the man, though, letting Dave know that his carrying Dirk days are far from over.

 

With a small smirk as Dirk clung to him Dave nodded hoisting the younger onto his waist and making his way towards the door, Dave didn't want to take Dirk downstairs to the first floor because press might be hanging about there, they had been this morning although he was sure the crowd of junior journalists waiting for their first scoop would triple once some nurse revealed Dirk's release date for a couple of hundreds that their boss would never know about. 

Opening the door this time wasn't as big a shock with the lights on in Dirk's room, in fact, it felt normal even with the curtains still drawn. Dave carried Dirk around the corridors Dirk had seen before, into the floor reception, giving a nod to the nurses as they went although the nurses had changed from the lunch shift to the night shift. Then Dave took Dirk to the double doors he'd avoided out of the reception and to a stairwell. 

"So these are called stairs, little man... I guess you never had to deal with these before, huh? Well, they're shapes cut out of the ground that make it easier to walk up or down, and we're going down. People can use stairs to go underground in some places but mostly they're used in built in the streets to help people get up or down hills - which are large round pieces of ground - or up and down floors which are stacked on top of each other in buildings, you remember what the pony houses looked like? How some of them had two floors and some had more like the princess pony's home?" 

Whilst he rambled Dave carried Dirk down to the next floor, opening another door to reveal another reception with nurses ready to direct people to where they needed to go although he knew where they were going so he didn't bother asking as he turned left towards the corner shop/ cafe. "And this is the floor below yours, Little man." Dave said whilst rubbing the child's back supportively, this was doubtlessly a lot. 

The floor looked much like Dirks until instead of rows of chairs in the reception a few rooms down there was a large cafe/ convenience store which Dave began explaining, "The same thing happens on this floor as your floor, sick people are looked after or come in just to make sure they're okay but here is where adults who are visiting can come and get their own drinks or food because the nurses don't need to look after them." He smiled just his lips quirking upwards softly as he saw Jade, "And that's Jade Harley." He informed Dirk pointing his friend out before waving to grab her attention and holding out his free arm to give her a 'hello' hug.

"Hey Harley," He greeted, glad to see a familiar face and not one covered in surgical masks or wearing scrubs. Jade was really doing him a solid right now, he'd asked her to fetch toiletries and PJs for him as well as a change of clothes for when he had to go to work tomorrow (something he was dreading explaining to Dirk), and then a few pieces of paperwork; Dave had no problems giving Rose, Jade or John a key to his place, they'd rented a house together in college they'd already seen everything. 

"It's good to see you." He admitted, readjusting Dirk on his hip. For Dirk he'd asked her to pick up kids PJs, day clothes (although once the doctor had pointed out that Dirk was small he was worried 8-10 yrs wouldn't fit him), colouring books, time cards, sign language cards, animal cards, and whatever toys she could get and thought looked cool - he didn't care if Jake helped her pick them out- for the rest of the $100 he'd transferred to her account.

 

Dirk was taken aback by all the explanations. It certainly was a lot! And, well...he couldn't tell faces apart really well yet. There were so many new nurses and doctors and he hardly had a clue that the people at the station now were different from the ones from before. 

The part about upstairs and downstairs was really blowing his mind, though. He thought the different parts of the house, up and down, and been fake, just for TV. It was hard to realise that things could be so big and they weren't just giant rooms with huge ceilings. There were floors and stairs and he clung tightly to Dave as he walked down them. Having never really been faced with heights, before, the boy was afraid of them when they got this big. 

He relaxed when they were on the bottom floor, though. Stairs were done and he maybe never wanted to see them again. He'd tell Dave all the very good reasons he had for that when the man inevitably tried to go on them again- didn't Dave see how they were probably really dangerous? The ponies could do it because they were magical. He wasn't sure Dave was magical. 

She held up not one, not two, but three bags when Dave approached her. She was smiling ear to ear and dropped them when she saw them coming out. She'd usually go to hug her friend, but refrained. No doubt that little Dirk there wouldn't exactly like being all smooshed up against his big brother's chest by a stranger. 

"Dave!"

Dirk winced a little at all the loud noises adding onto loud noises. He didn't mind too much, though. Jade reminded him of one of the ponies, all bright and happy and jumpy. The pink one, he decided. He didn't like her too much because she was so loud, but maybe it wasn't so bad. 

"Oh, and this must be Dirk! We've been waiting a long time for you."

Dirk looked confused, but he kind of liked the thought of someone waiting on him. He and Dave belonged together and Dave must have been waiting forever for him. He gave her a wave, because that was polite, but then followed it up with the sign for thank you. It seemed the nice thing to do when people wait on you. He'd tell Dave too, but later. 

"Okay, so! Here's what I got- this bag's all yours. Your clothes and those papers and I grabbed that eye mask- you know, the one made with the rice that you can warm up? I thought maybe it'd help you, especially at night. Nights in these places are still so bright, you know? All your toiletries and stuff are in a little plastic bag- you know the set Rose picked up a while ago, the matching ones for all of us after that trip? That one! And I grabbed the softest PJs of yours I could find. This bag has all the clothes for Dirk- I grabbed some of Jake's old clothes too, though, and those might fit better than the new ones. You're not quite as big as my cousin- you two would probably make good friends one day. Speaking of Jake, though, he helped me pick out all the toys, and even sent one of his own."

Jade was rifling through the bags, looking for something specific. They had everything Dave had asked for, but she definitely went a little overboard. How could she not, though? It was no problem, though, money wasn't ever too much of an issue for her and if she was going to go overboard for anyone, it might as be her best friends!

She finally stood back up with a dinosaur, though. It was small and plastic- a velociraptor. Dirk looked at it, then at Dave and back to Jade before he finally took it, smiling bright. He decided that the dino and Rainbow Dash would be good friends. He signed thank you again at her, grabbing both his toys now.

 

Noticing Dirk wince at the volume of his friend Dave rubbed the child's back soothingly and just watched Jade reveal what she'd brought with a soft smile, he could always count on Jade to be kind and enthused about being kind. Jake was the same and Dave did hope to introduce Dirk to the boy soon, it would do the child good to talk to another boy his age and Jake was particularly kind, oblivious, but kind. 

Then again talking was still a problem, maybe Dave could set up a pesterchum account for Dirk to message them first, was Dirk too young for that? No, Dave had his account by that age most likely. 

Jade continued to talk and Dave just smiled softly to himself, "That's great thanks, Harley. As per usual you've saved my ass." He spoke from the heart glad he had such good friends, "Dirk say's thanks for the toys too," He translated, although he assumed they'd all be picking up a fair bit of sign until Dirk found his vocal chords again. "We're not quite at talking yet but it's cool." He explained as he watched Dirk cling to his new toy. 

"Hey, does Jake have pesterchum already?" Dave asked curiously before noticing that they were one of the last people in there, "Ah, I've gotta grab some food-" He was speaking to both Dirk and Jade before just addressing Dirk, "Do you want to sit here and see what else Jade brought her whilst I grab my dinner?" He asked, tapping the back of a hospital chair, "You'll be able to see me all the while," He said gesturing to the empty queuing area maybe three foot away. 

Dave had no problems carrying Dirk but he knew the child couldn't be utterly dependant on him or shit was going to get REALLY complicated in the future. He had to talk to Rose about any child therapists she knew too.

 

Dirk really didn’t want to let his brother go. He frowned, tightening his grip some on the man. What if he decided to disappear for real instead? What if he didn’t come back? What if, what if, what if-

“Hey.”

It was Jade speaking, her tone soft and low as she smiled at Dirk. 

“Your brother’s gotta eat, okay? They don’t feed him here like they feed you. So while he’s getting food, we can look at all this cool new stuff, and then when he comes back, you can show him your favourites.”

Dirk seemed on edge, but between both of their guidance and gentle words, he nodded. 

Jade sat down by all the bags and Dirk let Dave place him down too. He watched Dave sharply, but once he realised he was just right there, he let Jade distract him by talking to him more. 

When Dave got back, Dirk seemed a little more relaxed, though he didn’t fully relax til Dave was right there. Jade was talking to him about some of the animals when he came back up, explaining penguins to the child.

 

Dave grabbed some food and sat down at the table next to Dirk, across from Jade. He kind of wanted to plonk Dirk straight back into his lap and cuddle the shit out of the kid but he'd gotten soup so that he could actually grab some vegetables. What could he say, 16 years of irregular meals that consisted of nothing but junk did things to a man.

That didn't stop him from bigging up Jade to Dirk though, "Jade's really smart, dude, I think she's my smartest friend, although if your sister Rose heard me say that she'd psychoanalyse me into next years YMCA magazine." He rambled sipping at the soup before remembering he was trying NOT to ramble in front of Dirk. "Sorry Little man that probably didn't make much sense." He could at least accept it, just seeing Jade helped him slip into bad habits. 

"Jade knows loads about sciences, I prefer music, but Jade could be like the doctors and fix people, animals or robots if she really wanted to." He smirked up at her exaggerating a little bit but he needed Dirk to like all his friends. "We went to school together," He referenced the teacher pony in Dirk's cartoon to try and explain, "Don't you think this stuff's cool?" He asked unaware that Dirk had probably never seen vegetable soup before let alone half the stuff Jade was coming out with.

 

Dirk was definitely pretty hyped about Jade once Dave was back. He looked curiously at what his brother was eating. He didn't understand a lot about his brother, or what he did or what he ate or even what he said. But he knew that Dave was good, so it was alright. 

He was happy to sit as Jade showed him everything and he'd point stuff out or hold it up for his brother to see better as she did. He liked her the more Dave hyped her up. She smiled and nodded along with what he said, modest but proud of her accomplishments. 

"I can show you all kinds of cool things. My little cousin, Jake, he doesn't like my stuff so much, but maybe you will."

Dirk liked that idea of seeing her again. 

When food was all over and done with, Jade insisted on helping them carry things upstairs, since Dave didn't really have any arms free. Dirk didn't like the stairs, but he was a little less afraid of them with Jade around. She was big and strong and could probably beat the stairs up if something went wrong.

 

Each time Dirk showed him something Dave released an affirmative humm and added a comment on whatever he could on what he was being shown. He'd have to buy Dirk a book on dinosaurs from the way the little guy clung to the toy. Rose could be in charge of that, books were her thing after all. 

Carrying Dirk up the stairs with the bag of his own stuff in his free hand Dave let Jade lead the way chatting about random stuff as he'd already told Jade Dirk's room number. "Jade handles a lot of machines, like my phone or laptop but way more complicated, So I have no idea how to work them, but some of them are petty dangerous so Jade's like a super-hero keeping the danger at bay for the rest of us." Dirk probably didn't know what a superhero was... 

"Like Rainbow dash with the weather." He was pretty sure that was a correct reference, he wasn't sure, he spent more time watching Dirk than the actual cartoon. He had no idea how to correctly introduce Dirk to the outside world and all its concepts but comparing it to tv seemed like the easiest way before he showed it to Dirk in real life. 

When they got to the room Dave set Dirk down on the bed and began sorting through the stuff Jade had brought making a small pile of learning materials, books for fun, toys, clothes, toiletries for Dirk (including sun cream) and then he left his own shit in a pile. "Jade, me and Dirk are going to learn sign language until he can talk again, don't you think that's cool?" He asked, hoping someone other than himself and Dirk's doctor bigging up the idea would encourage him to learn a little more before they left the hospital. 

As he spoke a nurse entered carrying a tray of food for Dirk, "Mr Strider, It's time for dinner." She said with a weak smile, clearly she'd dealt with Dirk before and he'd been unresponsive. "Sweet, little man, we made it back just in time." He stated with a smile before turning to the nurse and asking, "Hey, so can the little man wear real PJs now or does it have to be that gown?" 

He clearly wanted to give Dirk some real clothes even if it was just a white top and pants with dinosaurs printed all over them. "Well, as long as they don't obstruct the doctor, it's fine for him to wear his own clothes." the nurse admitted although she looked at Dirk a little doubtfully as she said it, the small smile still in place.

 

Dirk got pretty excited when Dave told him Jade working on machines. So did he! He wondered if she’d be willing to show him new stuff, or if she could explain vending machines. He didn’t understand some of the stuff Dave said, but that wasn’t new. 

He was going to write out the question, but got a little side tracked with everything else going on. He’d looked at the toys and books and cards, but he was now interested in the clothing, feeling all the material of them. 

He jumped a little when he heard the door opening, moving from his spot in the middle of the bed to cling to Dave’s arm. 

He still refused to look at the nurse, seemingly not moving. But he knew he had to react or Dave would be mad. So when she got close, he looked up at her and clung a little tighter to Dave’s arm. 

He offered a little wave when she looked at him doubtfully. He was a little hungry after watching Dave eat, though, so he pointed to the tray before signing thank you. 

It turned out to be a really useful sign, and that was just one of them. He was hoping that’d be all he needed for a while, but he was more excited now that Jade was in on hyping it up too. She’d even grabbed the book from the end and started pointing out different signs for some of his stuff, like clothes and toys. He didn’t know them yet, hadn’t seen anyone do them, but he hadn’t quite understood how many signs there were and how much they encompassed.

 

Dave didn't chastise Dirk for his reaction to the nurse, he'd been through a lot so it was okay if Dirk seemed shyer again now. Dave scooped the little guy up and sat on the bed, so that Jade could take the chair, and sat Dirk in his lap so the kid could eat comfortably. 

The nurse looked a little confused but smiled at the wave and nodded to Dirk, he was a fucking cute kid scarred or not, Dave was going to teach him how to harness his cuteness at some point. "Okay well, enjoy your meal, I'll collect the tray in a little while." She said with a smile seemingly warming up to Dirk as she waved goodbye as she left.

"That's dope little man, once you've eaten want to wash up with me and we can try on some of the clothes Jade got you?" He asked with a small smile continuing to chat with Jade and practice signs with her as Dirk ate, often bringing the child in and out of the conversation so that he could eat without feeling ignored.

 

Dirk picked apart his food as he ate. He’d always eaten things he’d made himself, he wasn’t sure about this kinda stuff. The only time he’d eaten without picking it apart is when Dave gave things to him. 

But Dave didn’t give this to him. The nurse did. 

He’d look up as they ate, only really catching the parts about sign language. He’d do a sign back when instructed, but he liked their chatter. 

Eventually, he finished eating, though. Jade looked a little sad, when she looked at the clock. 

“Alright, well. I better get going before they kick me out. Dave, remind me to text you Jake’s pesterchum handle, okay?”

Dirk was actually a little sad to see her get up. He was excited to try on his new PJs, but still. He didn’t know how long people left for- time was still weird. He moved and reached out from his brother’s grasp to grab Jade’s hand and give it a quick squeeze before settling back in Dave’s lap again. That was probably as close as he’d be getting to a hug for a while.

 

"Sounds great, thanks for everything, Harley." Dave knew exactly what Jade was feeling as she looked at the clock so he nodded and gave her a side hug goodbye. "You wanna say bye to Jade before she goes little man?" Dave said with a smile, he saw no reason for Dirk not to want to say goodbye to Jade, he seemed to love her and Dave understood why.


	4. PJs and Panic Attacks

Once farewells were over Dave turned back to Dirk. "Okay, Dirk wanna try these on?" He asked only now beginning to wonder what Dirk's clean up routine had been in the bunker, if it existed at all. Was Dave going to have to show Dirk how to shower? 

A little uncertain Dave helped Dirk to the pj's and let him grab them (picking up his own) before ushering the child towards the bathroom, "Do you know how to wash up little man?" He asked turning the light on inside the bathroom, trying to figure out what Dirk did know before he intervened.

 

Dirk was a little upset to say by to Jade, but mostly he liked her a lot. In reality, he had no issue with actually saying bye to her. 

Dirk nodded when asked, but looked a little intimidated by the shower layout. His was different, but he thinks it’s about the same? He looks at the different little things. There’s not the bar of soap he’s used to, and the man who grabbed him just used bar soap. Shampoo? Conditioner? Unnecessary, apparently. 

Dirk also tended to turn the water on as hot as it would go. Perhaps too hot for a small child, but it wasn’t clean unless his skin went pink or red, right? 

Right. He thought so, anyways. Still, he looked back at his brother, obviously confused. He didn’t want to seem stupid to the man, but...this was wrong. This was all wrong.

 

Dirk was nodding but looking at Dave like he needed help... 

It was hard to tell what the little guy wanted without seeing his eyes but Dave knew the kid needed to shower... After a second Dave leaned forwards and flicked on the faucet, "Okay, little man, so we call this a shower, I'm guessing you've seen one before, everyone has one in order to keep clean but they can all be slightly different so sometimes you have to play around with he dials to see how it works."

Pushing the faucet to the side freezing water doused Dave's sleeve and he sighed. "Technology strikes back, huh, little man." Needless to say, Dave was a LITTLE on edge in this situation. Of course, he'd changed Dirk's diapers but that was different everyone had to do that for kids and when they'd ran out of dipers Dave had gone old-school, like 1800's, and used cloth whilst he'd done favors for the old lady a few floors down because Bro wouldn't buy any more. 

Only when things were really bad and Dave had to choose between baby formula and nappies and finally began contemplating standing on street corners once he'd put Dirk to bed a small mountain of them would be blocking Dave's door so he'd have to climb the fire escape down to the bottom floor and then come in through the front door, avoid whatever traps Bro had set for him and grab the baby loot. 

Just thinking about it made his heart race with anxiety, what if Dirk burned himself in the shower and the nurses reported him for neglect, or the kid slipped and hit his head and they thought he was just like Bro. He'd bathed Dirk as a baby but was it wrong to shower with him? Would the nurses think Dave was a pervert and take Dirk away from him again? Dave just wanted the kid to be clean why the fuck did it have to cause a fucking panic attack. 

Deep breaths.

Fuck it, Dave's wet shirt wasn't helping anyone. He pulled it off revealing a patchwork of scars on his skin, all hidden just below the collar, Bro wasn't stupid Dave would give the bastard that. Thick blade lines marked Dave's skin from his shoulders to his wrists, to the small of his back and they didn't stop beneath his waistline they were simply hidden by Dave's jeans. The worst was the scar that rounded from Dave's back just above his kidney sweeping around his side to the bottom of his ribcage on his front, still thick angry and raised as a reminder of the last mark Bro was able to leave on his eldest son. 

"Okay so let's warm the water up a little..." Dave kept his hand under the spray measuring the temperature until he figured it would be okay for Dirk, unaware of the scolding temperatures Dirk had acclimatized to in the bunker. "Okay, now that looks good... but uh, you can't shower with your shades on little man, but it's probably too bright in here for you... Why don't we turn the lights off in here, but leave the door open so we can still see what we're doing?" Dave suggested although he doubted Dirk had much input he was simply thinking aloud. "And then once you're clean we can get changed does that sound good?" Should he call Rose and ask her if she let Roxy shower alone? Breathe, Jesus Dave was a mess.

 

Dirk watched his brother, a little lost. He was talking a lot and seemed...off. He didn't know what he did wrong, though, or didn't even know if it was him. Was Dave mad that Dirk didn't know how to do this? Did he think Dirk was stupid, was he upset, was he going to leave?

Dirk tried to make himself seem a little smaller as the man started the faucet. He looked at his wet shirt, and he kind of wanted to laugh, but he also kind of thought maybe laughing wasn't a good thing. Maybe that'd just be bad in this situation. Besides, he looked up at his brother's face and kind of didn't want to anymore.

Dave seemed off and Dirk didn't know how to fix it. 

He watched the man take off his shirt and he felt...well, a little better. They matched a little more, now. Dirk knew the shades hid some of the scarring on his face, but not a whole lot. He thought maybe Dave just had marks on his arms, but it looks like he had them all over, just like Dirk. 

Thankfully, none of Dirk's seemed that deep. The kid had only had to stitch himself up once or twice. Maybe a few more technically needed stitches, but he was small and they eventually did find with just bandages. The scarring was thick, but it wasn't anything like some of the ones Dave had. 

He wondered, if scars were such a bad thing, why did Dave have so many? He remembered, then, that their adult was bad and didn't watch. Dave had to do stuff and get scars to learn things like Dirk did.

Dirk was just now starting to catch onto the fact that maybe not all these scars were just learning scars, though. But he didn't know what was out there in the world.

He stayed quiet as Dave turned off the lights, let the door open. He didn't know what to do, didn't move. He sort of just wanted to get into his new PJs and get in bed and ignore having a shower, but it was apparently necessary.

It would be nice. He couldn't figure it out on his own and he'd been here for a while now. He took a lot of showers in the bunker- more than you'd think. He liked the hot spray of water, it felt...nice.

Rose, if she were here, would spout off how people, especially when feeling lonely, tended to like long showers because it subconscious mimicked having another person around. Rose being around would actually solve a lot of things, but she currently couldn't answers texts, seeing as she was on a plane to Texas from New York to help take care of her "brother". She'd left Roxy and Kanaya this time, though they'd both be down later. Right now she wanted to come first.

 

Dave didn't like his scars being exposed they made him feel weak and frankly he felt weak enough as it was right now. If he was this scared over just putting Dirk in the shower how was he going to raise him? Take him outside, to schools and college and just the park? How was he going to do that if he was hyperventilating over a fucking shower!

Deep breath, deep breath. Did he need to sit down? Yeah. 

Dave slid down the post door frame and sat on the floor, knees raised and his head between them as he tried not to be an idiot, which for Dave was hard. Dirk wasn't the only one worried about how stupid they were. Dave held out his hand and offered it to Dirk, was he scaring his brother now too? That would just be the cherry on top of it all.

"Hey, Little man, I'm sorry I'm being weird. I just want to be a good adult for you and..." He wasn't sure he could be. "...and it's a really big deal for me because I love you so much and sometimes that's just a lot to feel at once. But everything okay." He took another deep breath. "As you're so good at adult conversations, can you tell me if you can shower alone? I'll sit right here the whole time. Or I can shower with you, or I can sit in your room and leave you to it. What do you want, Dirk? I need your help on this one because I don't know what the right good adult decision is."

 

Dirk didn't know a lot about what was going on, but Dave offered out his hand and was talking again and it was a little better. Dirk grabbed his hand, but decided that wasn't quite enough. Dave was upset, and that wasn't okay.

He nudged at Dave's leg, making him move it so he could stand in front of his brother. He hugged Dave, making sure the man's head was resting on Dirk's chest.

When he was really scarred, listening to Dave's heartbeat helped a lot. He wanted to do the same now for his brother now that Dave was freaking out. He didn't mind, really. He traced a few of the scars he could reach on the other as he held on with one arm. 

He didn't have his pencil and paper, so he couldn't answer how he wanted. He didn't know where anything was and the water didn't have steam off of it so he knew it'd be too cold. He thinks he understands how to make it hotter, but still. It's confusing, but he should be okay, shouldn't he?

S-O-A-P-?

He traces the question on Dave's shoulder once he thinks the man's calmed down just a little bit. That was the biggest question.

 

Dirk was a miracle in Dave's eyes and he had no problem returning the hug. He held Dirk close for a little while just glad to have the child there, he didn't even mind the child touching his scars it was a fair trade from the comfort simply holding Dirk brought. 

S-O-A-P. 

Dave released Dirk and scanned the shower for the wrapped bar of soap, pushing himself up and pulling it off the tray Dave shed it's plastic wrapping before held it out for Dirk, "The soaps right here little man." Dave said calmly, being given something to talk about specifically helped. 

"But you've got to take your shades and the medical gown off first before you can shower." He informed the child, removing his own shades and setting them down on the shelf above the sink and gesturing for Dirk to do the same with his own. "Lift your arms up," He gestured shifting so that he was now kneeling before Dirk, Dave still the taller, Dirk was so tiny it tugged at his heartstrings. 

Dave pulled the gown over Dirk's head and hung it up before handing him the soap. "You gonna use the shampoo too?" He asked with a wobbly smile feeling better as he just allowed Dirk to take the lead. Was that bad parenting? Dave didn't want to be Dirk's parent though, he wanted to be his brother.

 

Dirk had gone this long without a parent. Dave didn’t have a parent, not really. They were brothers and they’d be just fine. 

Dirk didn’t know it yet, but brothers took careful of each other. Dirk liked taking care of Dave too. 

He stood on tip toes to safely put the shades where they wouldn’t fall. He lifted his arms for Dave to take the gown off after. He hated that the soap was so small and all wrapped up- it’d hardly last if it was that small. Itty bitty, is that how all soap was? 

He scrunched his nose when asked about shampoo, though. That sounded like a made up work. He tilted his head, almost painfully open as he looked at his brother. 

He put his hand under the water and frowned. He moved forward and put the dial as hot as it would go, keeping his hand under the spray as it warmed up, his too-pale skin quickly turning pink.

 

Dave let Dirk do his thing smiling softly at his little brother's reactions until Dirk turned the heat up too much. "Whoa!" He called, jumping in the walk in cubical and taking Dirk's hand out of the spray. "That's too hot little man, you don't need to burn yourself to get clean." Dave protested, admittedly he liked hot showers too but that was too hot for a child, he was sure of it. 

"Come on let's turn it down just a little bit so that you're not steaming yourself," he said rubbing Dirk's palm softly as he cranked the heat down a little. 

Trying to find a happy medium between Dirk's normal and his, which meant someone else putting their hand under the tap would probably call both of them out. "Alright Dirk, try it now." He said hoping the child would just get in the shower without an argument.

 

Dirk frowned at the temperature of the water, but Dave still didn't seem totally fine so he agreed to it. He'd have turned it up afterwards, but he didn't want Dave to leave right then. 

Not until he explained what shampoo was, at least.

Still, he might have been pouting just a little as he finally got under the stray and messed with his hair so it'd all get wet. He took the bar soap and seemed to be doing just fine, though he used it as a shampoo as well as a body soap. There were no other options before, to be completely fair.

 

Dave sat where he had been before next to the door beat boxing softly to himself as he left Dirk to his own devices, letting the child wash himself before noticing the kid rub soap through his hair. "What?" He asked softly before remembering Dirk didn't know any better. 

"Okay little man, hold up." He said to gain Dirk's attention. "You use soap to clean your body and you use shampoo to clean your hair." He stated, pointing to the little bottles on the side. "Shampoo is soap specifically for hair." He stated simply. "And you can get different shampoos for different kinds of hair and with different smells depending on what you like and need... but you can learn that later." He reminded himself.

"Do you want me to help? It hurts like a bitch if you get it in your eyes." He stated not really realising he was supposed to keep cursing to a minimum around the kid because Bro had done more than curse at him. And he'd pretty much taught Roxy everything before Rose could stop him.

 

Dirk couldn't quite hear Dave over the sounds of the water, but he saw his brother there just kind of nodding his head along to whatever he was doing, and he liked being able to see him still. 

Dirk tilted his head when he was told what shampoo was, looking at Dave kind of odd. It wasn't like any soap he'd ever seen- the kid had only had bar soap. Bar detergent, too, the child hadn't been around softener either. Maybe that's why these clothes were so novel to him- they were all so soft. 

He nodded when Dave asked if he wanted help. He also didn't want his eyes to hurt- they already hurt a lot.

 

After a second of deciding that he wasn't going to be weird about this Dave got down to stripping and entered the cramped shower cubical behind Dirk, "Alright, Dirk, get your hair nice and wet for me." Just giving the child something to do as he picked up the shampoo and poured it into his hands, "Cool, now make sure you're head's out of the water for me and you can continue to wash up whilst I do your hair, sound good?" 

Dave softly massaged the shampoo into Dirk's hair, it wasn't exactly the easiest job considering Dirk had never used shampoo or conditioner before, "Sorry if my fingers tug a little bit, bro." He apologised in advanced trying to make the experience as nice for the child as possible, making sure that none of the accumulating suds slipped into Dirk's eyes and finally when he'd finished giving Dirk stupid hairstyles, like mohawks or slick backs he came to washing it out. 

"You've done rad so far Dirk, but now we're going to wash the soap out so that you're nice and clean," He washed the suds from his hands, brushing aside the fact that he was cold, keeping Dirk under the spray. After so long with little exposure to elements and bacteria the little guy could almost definitely catch a cold quicker than Dave could spite fire. 

"So you've got the important job of protecting your eyes, so can you keep your hands like this," He made a visor with his hands on his forehead to demonstrate, "And not let any soap through whilst I wash it out?" He asked with a smile knowing Dirk could do it. But if soap did break the other's barrier Dave would cross that bridge when they came to it.

 

Dirk pressed his hands against his eyes like he was shown, maybe a little too hard. He's gonna do his best, though, and that means following what Dave tells him.

He liked Dave playing with his hair, oddly enough. It felt pretty nice, something he didn’t really expect. But in the shower it was far more obvious that his hair was a mess. It fell at all different lengths, long enough to get into his eyes when it was wet and lost its curl. 

He pointed to the shampoo bottle and then Dave’s own hair, the silent question hanging there- wasn’t Dave going to get clean too?

 

As Dave finished washing the little guys hair just letting the spray finish up his job, washing the last of the suds out he smiled softly and nodded, "Yeah, I need to clean up too don't I little man?" He said with a soft smile. 

Stepping into the spray a little more Dave picked up the bottle of shampoo and flicked the lid open before hesitating, "Do you wanna help me little man?" It was cool if Dirk didn't but he figured he'd give the kid the option, not really sure why Dirk would want to do it but he'd still ask.

 

Dirk smiled and nodded, holding out his hands for the shampoo. He obviously needed to practice, right? Plus, having your hair played with felt pretty good. This was obviously the most fair trade. 

They took care of each other. And Dirk wanted to make Dave’s hair stick up in stupid directions too. 

Once Dave had knelt to a level he could reach, he messed with the shampoo some. It didn’t bubble as quickly as his bar soap did. However, it quickly bubbled when he put it in the other’s hair. He had fun messing with it, watching it stand up however he put it. He was really careful to make sure not to get any in the man’s eye, though.

Lowering himself to a level Dirk could reach Dave smiled softly and poured shampoo into the childs hands before letting him play with it, he gave a running comentary on any styles Dirk gave him and repeatedly asked the child if he should change his look, "Do you think I should let you do my hair every day, little man?" or "The runway won't know what hit them, Kanaya would love you for a hair stylist." 

"Kanaya's my- our sister Rose's girlfriend." He explained, "She makes a lot of clothes." Maybe in the shower wasn't the best time to explain Rose and Roxy to Dirk. Standing up to wash out the remains of the suds in his hair that Dirk hadn't quite gotten to, he'd get better with practice, and ran the bar of soap over his body which despite being scarred was in peak condition before stepping out of the shower and wrapping one of the towels around his waist, turning the faucet off and looping the other towel around Dirk's shoulders to dry him off. 

"Okay, now we're clean let's dry up and brush our teeth and then I'll tell you all about our sisters, they're super cool." Okay so Rose and Roxy were their cousins but the gag they'd pulled to freak people out in college as the siblings that were snarky as shit and just a little too close had never faded. Then again an alcoholic mother and an abusive father made for a pretty understanding double act.

It really didn't matter to Dave that they weren't biologically siblings because Bro was biologically his father and Dave couldn't give less of a shit about him, but Rose and Roxy he loved with all his heart even if it was displayed in the most ironic of ways.

 

Dirk nodded, though he was quickly caught up in the magic of the soft towel. This was so much different than the threadbare towels he had in the bunker, and he kept pressing his face into the softness. 

He’d enjoyed Dave’s running commentary because he liked Dave talking. Him talking was way better than him being all quiet. A quiet Dave kinda scared him a little bit. 

He didn’t understand a lot of it again, but there was one word in particular that caught him up. He did as Dave told him, brushing his teeth without problem before rubbing the towel all through his hair and drying off before getting Dave to help him with his PJs. He’s never worn something that actually /fit/ him. Everything had always been too big, this was kind of weird, but cozy. 

Dirk grabbed his shades before heading back into the room, managing with a little effort to climb into the bed before he got his paper again.

‘What does sister mean?’

He held the paper out to Dave.

 

Dave had no problems with teeth-brushing, he was glad Dirk had picked that up from somewhere or dental care would have been a bitch, or dressing the kid, even if Dirk had seemed somewhat skeptical at first. He pulled on his red PJ pants and a white tee that Jade had grabbed for him and set an earlier wake-up alarm on his phone because it took longer to get to the radio station from the hospital than it did his place. 

He doubted Dirk was going to be cool with him leaving and frankly Dave had held his thumb over his boss' phone number whilst Dirk had watched cartoons, contemplating demanding more days off. But he couldn't do that, it wasn't how radio worked if he took any more time off he'd lose listeners and he'd only just started gathering a following... He needed the station to pick up if he was going to care for Dirk long term which meant that with a heavy heart Dave would be leaving for a few hours tomorrow. 

When presented with the question Dave paused, Dirk's phonetic spelling was really good, but that wasn't the point, the point was Dave was now going to have to explain family to the child, and it made his chest ache that it had to be explained. With a deep breath he opened the sign book and flicked to the page on relations and family.

"That's a long explanation little man, you sure you're up for it?" He asked before nodding, Dirk needed to know. "Cool. So, you know how there are lots more people than you thought? Well there are even more, so many that if they all stood in front of your window you still wouldn't be able to see everyone." He said hoping the younger was following. 

"And some of those people are related." He continued, "Adults can make more people, it's something special that only they can do and when you're older you'll be able to do it too... probably?" Did early malnutrition affect sperm count? Whatever Dave wasn't sure he wanted to know right now. "And they create babies." He made the sign for babies. "Which is what you were when I was looking after you, first time." He continued. 

"And the adults that made you would be your 'mother' and 'father'," He made the relevant signs as he spoke. "But our 'father' was a bad adult and hurt me and tried to hurt you so he doesn't count as a real father because he wasn't good like you or me. I don't know who our 'mother' is, or even if they're the same lady, but because I know we share a 'father' we're 'brothers'." He said simply. "So you're my 'brother'," he continued, "Boys who are related to each other are brothers and if they share a father or mother with a girl then that's their 'sister'." He explained. "We have two, Rose and Roxy."

Pulling out his phone to show Dirk a picture of the two blonde girls Dave continued talking, because it was what he was best at. "They don't live near us so Rose is coming to see you tomorrow and look after you whilst I'm at work and then we're going to look after each other and when you feel ready we'll let Roxy come over and meet you, because she's very excited but not always as adult as you and might forget that your eyes hurt a lot or that you can't speak out loud yet, but she's very nice." 

"So that's what it means to have family, sisters and brothers. It means you belong together and we're 'family', people who love and look after each other." He smiled softly tussling Dirk's damp hair softly. "Do you understand Dirk?" Technically, Rose and Roxy were their cousins but they called each other siblings so that now even Roxy was in on it, it was just easier to explain it to Dirk this way until he was older.

 

Dirk had read the word before, come across it plenty. It’d just never made sense to him. He was learning that that was the difference between reading something in the dictionary and hearing Dave explain it. Dave provided context and made things simple for him. 

He followed along with the signs as Dave pointed them out. Brother, sister, mom and dad and baby. He stopped short, though, looking back at Dave. 

He flipped through the book, finding the right sign before pointing it out to Dave. 

Work, two fists held out, one brought down on the other. 

He...didn’t like that. He wasn’t going to throw a whole ass fit now, he was tired and warm and he’d let Dave let it go for the promise of sleep, but it wouldn’t be a good time tomorrow, that already seemed unavoidable.

 

Damn Dirk was a smart kid. He'd listened to all of that and picked out the one thing Dave had hoped to gloss over. "Yeah, little man, I've got to work to afford food and clothes and toys for you." He said with an apologetic shrug before standing up off the bed and walking over to the light switch and turning the light off in the room so that Dirk could relax. The child looked tired and frankly, Dave could related. 

"Come on little man," He soothed the child, taking his seat next to Dirk's bed and removing the books and paper and plastic dinosaur (because that probably wasn't comfortable to sleep with) and placed them all on the child's bedside table so that they were within reach. "Let's get some sleep so that when you meet Rose tomorrow you're not tired." He said pulling on a hoodie over his tee and trying to get comfortable, he'd wait until Dirk fell asleep and maybe internet shop for a few more supplies for kids for his apartment.

 

Dirk frowned. He watched Dave move everything, but kept hold of his pony. He didn't like Dave leaving, but he wouldn't fight it right now. Rose was probably in for a spectacle, though. Thankfully, she was already half-expecting it. Or something, anyways. Things didn't go smoothly with their family, that's not who they were. 

A terrifying thought occurred to the child then, though. What if Dave left while he was sleeping? What if Dirk woke up and he wasn't back at 7? He had the blankets pulled back, but he abandoned that idea in favour of moving over to the chair and crawling his way into Dave's lap. 

He seemed to plan to stay there, curled up against his chest. Dave could theoretically still move him, but it'd be harder and he'd know...right?

He hadn't actually been moved in his sleep for his...well, whole life that he could remember. It might have been nice, falling asleep while working and waking up in bed instead of with a screw pressing into his face from where he was trying to get the microwave fixed.

 

About to tuck Dirk in for the second time in years what Dave hadn't expected was for Dirk to crawl into his lap, but if he was being honest it was one of the cutest things Dirk had surprised him with and God DAMN was that list growing. Dave chuckled softly at the contact and smiled. 

"Want me to read you one of the books Jade got you, little man?" He'd read to Dirk before but they were mostly homework essays he'd had when Dirk was crying about being put to sleep. "Or rap you a lullaby?" He asked because although he could sing rap was so much sweeter. "You just gonna stay here perched on my abs all night? You don't want the bed? Okay, that's chill, little man." 

He knew Rose would tell him he was reinforcing negative behaviour but shit, he wanted to. He'd put Dirk back to bed once he fell asleep, probably.

 

Dirk was mostly just glad he wasn't being kicked off. He smiled when he realised he'd get to stay, officially in this for the long haul. He looks up at Dave confused again when he speaks, grabbing his hand to write on it. 

W-R-A-P-?

Dirk only spelled it out once he learned it was chill to just stay here. He was hoping Dave wouldn't force him to go back into the bed, and he liked it here. Dave was warm and safe and Dirk could listen to his heartbeat and his voice rumbling through his chest when he spoke.

Rose would have plenty to say on it, but Rose wasn't here right now and Dirk was tired and happy, even with the brief mention of work.

 

"No, dude, R-A-P." Dave said spelling it on Dirk's skin and spelling it aloud. "W-R-A-P is like when you pull the blankets around you, you're wrapped up in the blankets. Rap is a style of music. You know on my little pony how it starts with the same little jingle each time?" He hummed the tune as well as he could remember it.

"Well that's called a theme song and a lot of cartoons and other TV shows have them, they stick in your head and make you want to watch it when you remember the song." This was getting off track, rein it back in Dave. "Well there are other types of music too called songs and I'll show you them tomorrow. One kind, a lullaby you get sung before you go to bed, but they can be kind of boring so I'm offering to give you one in my favourite music style RAP." He said with a grin.

"It's like talking in rhythm and the faster you can talk in rhythm the better a rapper you are, when you start talking to me I'll show you how to free-style which is to think of Lyrics - uh, song words, off the top of your head, like this:

Hey, little man, it's been a long day,  
with ponys you learned to play,  
we went exploring   
and soaring  
to great new heights,   
as this cool little man spent the day in the lights,  
We got good news  
but now it's time to snooze   
the doc said you could come home  
where the earth we will roam   
you're gonna learn all kinda things  
with me and your sis to show you the rings  
Don't worry I'm here to keep you safe at night  
You're gonna be with your family for the rest of your life." 

He kept a steady beat the whole time his breathing and heart rate flowing with the words as he didn't want to go too fast so that Dirk couldn't hear the words he actually understood.

 

Dirk liked it, he thinks, mostly because Dave liked it so much. It was really cool seeing the difference between him worried and not liking something and him actually doing something he not only liked, but was also good at. 

The tempo was fast, but with Dave's heart beat and breathing, it all worked together pretty damn well to help lull the kid off. He wasn't asleep by the end of it, but his eyes were absolutely drooping. 

He honestly looked ready to drop at any minute at this point, pressed tight against Dave. He kept a hold of his hand, in case he needed to spell something else out, but he ended up tracing nonsense patterns against it instead as he started to nod off

 

Smiling at the effect it had on Dirk Dave decided that yeah this was going to become a regular thing as he cuddled Dirk a little closer to his chest, perfectly happy to let the child play with his hand until he fell asleep. Without jostling Dirk, Dave kissed the child's temple and sighed contently, "Good night, little man, it's good to have you back." 

When Dirk's breathing had been steady for a while and Dave was close to nodding off himself he gently placed the child back onto the sheets and pulled the sheets up around him, leaving his hand in Dirks in the hopes that the child wouldn't wake as he left Rainbowdash in his other hand. If the flash wouldn't have woken him Dave would have taken a photo of the little Strider.

Dave sent Rose a text telling her to just crash at his place as she had a key, because he wouldn't be home for a while anyway and it was clean enough for her standards. Before finally, he turned off his phone and had an early night, he removed Dirk's shades cautiously so the kid wouldn't catch them on anything and placed them on the table next to his own before resting his head into his arms on the edge of the bed. 

He woke the next morning turning off his alarm and quickly heading into the bathroom to get dressed for work, hoping to give Dirk a little more time asleep before Rose arrived and the nurses began fussing around them.

 

Dirk slept pretty well through the night, especially with someone else so close. In the morning, he was awoken by the alarm, but he woke up pretty dang slow. By the time he was sitting up and rubbing his eyes, he could see Dave in the bathroom getting ready for his routine. 

He was careful slipping out of bed, keeping ahold of Rainbow Dash and running over to the other, hugging onto one of his legs. 

He was a pretty clingy kid, but for pretty good reason. This was technically only his third day of ever seeing his brother that he could remember, so it was all still new and scary and he didn't like Dave not being close, especially with no one else there.

 

Unsurprised by Dirk's approach Dave reached back to where the child's head was nuzzled into the back of his thigh and pet his hair good morning before biting down on his toothbrush and turning down to pick Dirk up and rest the child on his hip before he spat the foam out of his mouth into the basin and greeted, "Good morning little man." He bit back down on the toothbrush before prepping Dirks for him and keeping him on his hip so that they could both reach the sink whilst they brushed their teeth. 

Once they were done Dave held Dirk close enough to the sink so that he could wash his face before putting the child down so that he could wash up too, having thankfully shaved first whilst Dirk was still coming to. It was a good job Dirk hadn't ran into the back of his legs whilst he was doing that, then again if there was any place to make that mistake it would be a hospital. 

"You sleep okay?" He asked feeling hella stiff himself but he wouldn't tell Dirk that. "Why don't we wait until the nurses bring your breakfast before changing you?" He asked buttoning up his shirt but wearing jeans instead of suit pants today, he didn't have to dress formally for the station but he had a guest coming in today so he'd bother his ass to scrub up SLIGHTLY. 

He let Dirk do whatever else he needed to in the bathroom before leading him back to the bed checking his phone to monitor Rose's arrival.

 

'I'm currently in the waiting area of the hospital. I know you hate earliness as much as tardiness, but it seemed necessary in this situation. Shall I head back to your room yet, or do you need another minute? I'm sure you must be leaving soon.'

Rose, of course, sent a small paragraph rather just a "hey, I'm here". On point for her. Dirk climbed up back to the bed once they were there, grabbing Dave's hand again so they could talk. 

He made two "L" signs with his hand, putting one thumb on his jaw before bringing it down to the other L. The sign for sister- and then he pointed to Dave's phone when he was reading the message. 

Dave mentioned her coming. He also mentioned she was coming because of work.

 

Rose wasn't wrong, Dave didn't enjoy that she was early, it was barely past 6 am for Christ's sake which was ungodly enough without his sister's diagnoses of his sexuality which Dave was still dealing with having been in the hellish grip of his severely homophobic and hetero-normative father up until he was 16. 

In his usual bullshit response, Dave responded, 'Lalonde although the soul purpose of my being is to marvel in the wonder of your inability of punctuality, being early counts as much as Pluto being deemed a real dog in the micky mouse club whilst Goofy's living it up in pants. So strap on your big round ears to that alice-band you love so much and I expect you to kick down this door tap dancing some wholesome greeting with only the sweetest of bars parting those lips of yours as we introduce little bro to the horrors of strangers in felt costumes that is family friendly entertainment so he can get used to your goth ass before I go.'

That seemed a pretty just response, muted and subtle as he told Rose to come in, in the most normal of manners. 

That was until he saw Dirk sign and nodded, popping his shades back on before she lit up the room and made sure Dirk's were in place too, a small strip of pale sunlight drifting through the gap Dave had made in the curtains. "Yeah Rose is just outside, she's come a REALLY long way to come and see you, and is probably really looking forward to it. She's the one with the black around her eyes and lips in the picture I showed you, remember?" He asked buying time until said eye shadow and lipstick made an appearance.

 

In true Lalonde fashion, Dave didn't get a chance for another response before Rose herself was at the doorway, knocking three times before letting herself in. 

She was dressed to the nines as usual, much more put together than her "brothers". While she always had a knack for the extravagant and outlandish beforehand, having a designer as a longtime girlfriend really helped with that aspect. 

"David," she said, her usual address of her brother before she turned her sights on the newly regained member of their family. "And you must be Dirk. I'm Rose."

Dirk didn't know how to feel about her at first. She was a lot, admittedly. He clutched onto his brother, almost half hiding. Dave said a lot of good things about Jade and she turned out to be good. He was saying good stuff about Rose now too, but...she was...

Her eyes looked sharp, and he wasn't sure if it was the eyeliner or just the way she looked. Her mouth had a smile he didn't quite trust. While she was genuinely happy to see her family, her concern probably was leaking through a little too much. 

Hardly common for her, but this was quite the dire situation.She'd missed them both dearly, though she hadn't gotten much at all a chance to meet Dirk. Still, chatting with Dave as a teenager meant she felt like she'd practically raised the kid herself with how often Dave talked about him back then.

 

"Lalonde." Dave greeted in return, adding a particularly Texan twang to his speech just to annoy her. 

The siblings were used to being cold towards one another in the most affectionate of ways, they'd snark each other to high heaven but of Rose had a problem she couldn't fix or needed a break from Roxy like hell Dave wouldn't be hopping on the next flight over. Yet this didn't seem to be working for the little man.

"I think the clown chic doesn't do it for the little man, maybe you should have tried a human look for your first introduction to a kid who's never seen makeup before." He reasoned rubbing Dirk's back before shrugging and giving his "sister" a small smirk. Rubbing Dirk's back as the child clung to him he opened his other arm for Rose, "Just try not to get any of that black shit on my shirt today, I don't need some band member insinuating I just rocked up from a one night stand, again." 

So what if they were standoffish, they were still human and hadn't seen each other in person in MONTHS, they could spare the act for a second with a hug, and Dave wanted Dirk to see that Rose was really okay.

 

"Do they even realise what lipstick this is? No one that spends over seventy dollars for a lipstick would be having a one night stand with you," Rose said, though she went over to give the other a hug. 

Snarky as they might be, it was with affection. They had their own ways of communicating it, and it was really nice to see him again. Of course, she couldn't just say that. 

Well, she could, but if they spoke to frankly to one another it would probably end in tears. Without their sassy fronts, they were both a mess. 

In any case, she knelt down by Dave after she'd hugged him, smiling at Dirk who was still looking wearily at her. 

"Hello. I'm Rose, your sister."

Actually introducing herself would probably be a good idea. Dirk still didn't leave Dave's side, but he slowly let go of them to make the sign for sister again. She seemed a little confused, looking up at Dave for translation. 

She knew that he was going to start introducing Dirk to sign language. She hates that she'd caught off guard, she should have read up last night. Ah, well, surely the child couldn't be too far ahead and communicating with only that, though...right?

Dirk kind of liked that. He also looked confused a lot and looked towards Dave. He thinks maybe Dave just makes people really confused with all his talking. It's a good thing, but the boy's blunt as hell.

 

Snorting dismissively at Rose's retort Dave just let her have the final say or he'd never leave in time for work and left his arms open for Rose.

Releasing a soft sigh at the hug Dave smiled softly before pulling stoic back in place when Rose stepped back, although it was something he'd worked on with Rose and the only reason he was able to emote with Dirk now. For some reason, the facade fit when talking to Rose, probably because they were still scared like children of losing what little family they had. 

Dirk signed sister and Dave's heart swelled, this was a huge step up from the doctors although not quite as great as Jade's... they'd work on that. There was a slight contrast between Dave's southern drawl and Rose's accent but Dirk would get used to both. "He just signed sister to you." Dave said with a smile, picking Dirk up and placing the child in his lap so that Rose could sit in the chair.

The older brother's heart was racing, he was VERY aware that he didn't have much time left and he was worried if the nurses didn't get the breakfast round done soon then Dirk wouldn't eat until he got back, but they didn't do that until 7 and he had to be gone by then. "Yeah, you got it right little man, although you're still supposed to wave to say hello first remember?" He squeezed Dirk close proud of him. 

"But it's only been a day we've been signing so it's all chill, little man." He soothed "Rose doesn't know any sign yet so maybe you can teach her some and use your paper to talk and then learn a little more sign language to teach me tonight?" He asked, "Does that sound cool?" he asked. Before looking up at Rose who would recognize the focus Dave was taking not to ramble when talking to Dirk. 

"Dirk's hella smart, understand everything you say but a little context and summary of big words don't hurt. He knows that bad adults are the reason why we've been separated so long but that we're good adults and family so we'll take care of each other. If he's getting stressed out in the check up just let him watch mpl or something on your phone, I have to take my computer to work with me but I'll grab a tablet on the way home to occupy him for tomorrow. If you wanna take him out, he's got some grasp on vending machines but let's leave that as the most sunlight in the room until I get back and then when it's dark I figured we could put a little lotion on him and take him outside for the first time, now you're here? If you could ask the doc about it that'd be great, but he says the little man can come home in a week or so, so he can't really bitch about bacteria."

He paused trying to think of what else to say but his alarm went off again telling him to leave and he just froze holding Dirk to him. Of course, he trusted Rose with his brother... he just didn't want to let him go.

 

Dirk watched their interactions with some interest. This Rose was...interesting. Maybe a good kind of interesting. He doesn't think he can hates anyone his brother likes, but maybe Dave's just introduced him to the good people so far. 

Rose nods as she receives her instructions. She keeps a smile off of her face, but only barely. She can see how much effort Dave's putting into this, and she more than admires that. She always knew he was strong, that much was obviously just from surviving Bro for so long, but this was something else. This was a different kind of terrifying and she knew first hand how scared she often was of messing up with Roxy.

She can't imagine the stress of worrying about messing up with Dirk, though she supposes she's about to learn that. 

When Dave's alarm goes off again, Dirk frowns, still holding on tightly to his brother. 

"We'll get everything sorted out, won't we, Dirk?"

Dirk didn't nod or shake his head, more worried about keeping a hold on his brother.

 

Dave felt sick as Dirk clung to him. He didn't want to let go of him but he had to and he knew it. Rose's words soothed him more than his little brother and he nodded mechanically before managing to manoeuvre around Dirk to pick up his phone and turn off the alarm. 

"Okay, Dirk, I've got to go to work." He stated simply. "If I don't go to work I can't be a good adult and look after you." He summarised hopeing that it would be enough for the child. "I'll be back as soon as I can okay? If anything's wrong Rose will call me so just have fun with her until I get back, okay little man?" He asked trying to get Dirk to release his grip on him.

 

Oh, this already wasn’t going to go down well. Dirk shook his head, holding on tighter to Dave. Simple logic and capitalism didn’t make sense to the kid. Dave didn’t have to go anywhere, no one was kicking him out, right?

Rose frowned, figuring nothing she could say right now would soothe the child, but trying anyways. 

“Dirk, your brother likes his job. He’s going to go and we’ll give him a call, alright? I bet we can even listen to him later for a little bit.”

Rose was right, it did little to nothing to calm the boy down.

 

Swallowing thickly Dave had to compose himself before standing up and gradually pulling Dirk away from him. There was no way the malnourished child's grip could compete with Dave's but he hoped the little guy didn't hurt himself in the struggle. 

Dirk just like last time I left I'll come back." Dave said in a tone he hoped was firm. "Rose is going to draw the clock for you at the time I'll come back and look after you until I'm back okay. I'm coming back and your sisters going to keep you safe." The last bit hurt to say. "So stop fighting and be a good boy for me, I've got to go." He tried to pull back and away from Dirk before the child could reattach himself to his guardian.

 

Dirk was certainly trying. However, he could tell when there was a lost cause and this was no doubt it. He tried harder to keep a tight grip on the man, but it really wasn’t working out so well. 

Tears of frustration were quickly forming that turned into actual tears because he didn’t want his big brother to go. He reached out again, sniffing and making grabby hands. Rose knew that this was already taking a toll so to keep Dirk from grabbing onto Dave again, she held the boys hand. He couldn’t get his hand free and couldn’t get far enough away to grab at Dave more. 

She was proud of Dave for using a firm voice, but she knew it probably hurt as well. 

Dirk was trying uselessly to pull away from Rose, crying and shaking his head no but a job was a job.

 

Dirks tears burned like acid on his skin, Dave's heart ached as Rose had to intervene, knowing his presence wasn't doing any good, "We'll catch up later Lalonde." 

He held Dirks head still and planted an ' I'm sorry ' kiss on his forehead before saying, "be good little man." Grabbing his bag and turning tail out of the hospital. As he got to the bottom floor he text Rose 'call me if it gets bad, try the radio maybe it'll help or share a bag of skittles with him. Later Lalonde.' 

Before speeding off to work so that he could get back to Dirk all the sooner.

 

Rose offers him a small smile as he leaves. She wants to hold Dirk, but that’d be a disaster and she knows it well. Instead, she finally lets go of his hand when the door closes. He runs to it, but she goes to sit beside it, making sure she leans against it so it doesn’t open. He doesn’t know that, though- there had been very few doors in the bunker, and he never really closed them. 

‘Sure thing. We’ll be fine. Don’t worry too much at work.’

Quick and simple, but lacking her usual snark. She liked to think she was subtle in her worries, but it was probably the furthest thing from the truth.


	5. Release dates.

The day didn’t go so well. 

Dirk refused to eat breakfast. Lunch was a bust too, but she did manage to get him to eat some Skittles- only the red ones. 

Poor kid. 

They watch some TV, mostly Rose at first until Dirk slowly moved closer to her to see the screen as well. He decided that she was alright, but he still wanted Dave. 

They called Dave on his break. Rose knew not much talking would happen, she just asked Dave a few questions, let him list off his answers and let Dirk listen to the man’s voice. Any questions Dave had for her he could text. This call was more for Dirk’s sake than for them to speak anyways.

 

Dave spoke as normally as he could in the call, getting more and more anxious that Dirk wouldn't eat, or play with Rose... 

He had to try and not get snappy with guests which meant that behind his stoic exterior Dave was wondering if he should introduce Dirk to the wonders of junk food tonight in order to bribe him. Would Dirk be mad upon his return? 

Dave was about to find out. In the end, he'd picked up a large pizza for him and Rose to share and he'd gladly delegate a few of his slices to Dirk should the child not punish him for leaving. 

With a deep breath Dave pushed open the bedroom door, he'd navigated the daytime radio and stored up recordings and a records list for the stations night broadcast, something he'd learned students stayed up listening to in the late study hours so he'd youth-anized it in time to build the station up to a hipster level of popular before the station was actually euthanized. 

"Yo, I brought your favourite, bread as flat as your rhyme skills covered in tomato and layers of cheese also relevant to your writing." Rose was actually a brilliant writer and as proud as it made Dave, despite his refusal to admit it, a decent rapper. Regardless of the insults, he held his breath to see how things were and how Dirk would react.

 

Rose gradually got Dirk down from the state of panic he’d had been in for quite a while after Dave had left. He hadn’t eaten, but she had counted getting him to watch shows and eat skittles a victory after the trials of the day. 

After they called Dave, they watched more shows and she got him to go through a few signs with her. She was working on distracting him, and TV shows wouldn't do for the whole day. He seemed uninterested in the toys, but she figured as such. He needed something to focus on- with learning ASL, he had something to do, as with toys it was more creative. 

He seemed not to mind her too much, but she knew she was no replacement for Dave. She spoke to him, though- talking seemed to run in the family. She had an easier time than Dave refraining from rambling, but she knew her brother put forth plenty of effort. 

Rose was sitting on the bed with Dirk, going through some of the book when Dave finally got back. His shift wasn't particularly long, she knew, but it seemed like an eternity, and she was sure Dirk thought so too. The paper he used to write and communicate with was mostly blank- he hadn't had much to say. 

She was grateful for the food- she'd eaten lunch, even when Dirk hadn't, but not much. 

"If those illusions to thin crust were just a way for you attempt to roast me and it's actual pan pizza, I'm not forgiving you," she said before Dirk finally seemed to catch on and actually care who was there. 

He was up and off the bed quickly, running and grabbing tightly onto Dave's legs. He'd been miserable, despite Rose's best efforts, and the tears were coming on quickly again.

 

Smirking at his sister's retort Dave walked in closer so that she could see he had no reason to repent. Well, Dave had plenty of reasons to repent but none of them were pizza related, not the ones he would admit to anyway. 

He'd almost made it halfway across the room before Dirk was attached to his leg once more, with a lean and a bit of luck Dave tossed the pizza onto the end of the bed so that Rose could inspect the Italian base to her satisfaction and he could greet his little brother.

"Hey little man," He chuckled picking the child up before noticing the wobbling of his bottom lip and the wet cheeks and frowning, "Whoa- what's with the waterworks dude?" He asked in a soothing tone, holding Dirk to his chest and bouncing the child softly as he cuddled him. "I told you I'd be back. I've never lied to you," He continued, gently stroking Dirk's hair.

The only other times he was like this was when saying goodbye to Roxy and the inevitable waterworks started or when he and Rose had had their collection of breakdowns in college surrounded by 'normal' people. She was much better now, although it was a silent agreement that when they both had to be spectacularly dysfunctional the other was there for them.

 

Rose inspected the pizza, but mostly as a cover to give Dirk and Dave the idea of privacy. Of course, the situation would be picked apart and brought up to Dave’s attention later, but that’s just who she was. 

Dirk nodded when Dave spoke, but he couldn’t stop the tears. He moved back just a little, making a sign. His fist making the letter A rubbing clockwise on his chest. 

‘Sorry’

He had assumed that since Dave wasn’t kicked out, he was leaving as some sort of punishment. Dirk could figure out what he did wrong, but he was so scared of doing it again. He wiped at his eyes, but it wasn’t much use and he ended up hugging Dave tight again.

 

"What are you sorry for, Dirk?" He asked confused, "Crying's okay, I mean I don't want you to cry but sometimes we just need to and that's okay." He said still cuddling the child and petting Dirk's hair. 

"I mean I know you haven't eaten whilst I was at work and that's not cool. If you don't eat they won't let you out of here with me and that'll be shit, dude." He stated but his tone didn't change. "You're going to eat dinner for me now right?" He asked knowing the nurses would arrive with another tray in about half an hour or so. Dave had Dirks schedule down on lock. 

He sat in the chair with Dirk leaving Rose on the bed as he rubbed the child's back hoping to understand why Dirk was apologising, although now that they were closer to the paper and pencils he hoped he'd get more than broken sign.

 

Dirk just curled up more, grabbing onto Dave tighter in the chair. Rose glanced over, trying to put it together but failing pretty spectacularly herself. It was a lot of will power not to ask Dirk tons of things and try to figure out more about him. She’d get to know him in time in a way that was more than just psychoanalysing. 

It took Dirk a few minutes to calm down enough to pull back and wipe more at his face. Rose had gotten him into a different shirt for the day, but he’d been chilling in his dino PJ bottoms, since they were cozy and his favourite right now. She figured he could use the little comfort. 

Once he was breathing right a little more, he made a motion to the paper. It was too far to grab it without having to lean over so much that he’d have to let go of Dave. He didn’t want to. Rose handed it over, helping him settle it on the bed so he could write with one hand and keep ahold of Dave’s shirt with the other. 

‘I’m sorry I made you leave again. I’ll be nice to the nurses and eat dinner.’ 

That’s all he could think of now, but he didn’t even realise not eating was bad. Was Dave gonna leave again tomorrow too cause he hadn’t eaten yet? The years start up again at the thought.

 

Dave's chest tightened at the message and he kissed Dirk's forehead softly, before saying, "Little man... I don't think you understand right." He sighed softly. "Here," He leaned forward and grabbed a slice of pizza and held it up for Dirk. "You're tummy probably hurts right now, and I shouldn't really be giving you this because the nurses have food for you but pizza always makes me feel better when I'm upset." He said just wanting Dirk to eat SOMETHING, and it was only a margarita so he doubted it would upset the child's stomach. 

He grabbed a slice for himself and took a bite showing Dirk what to do and looked up at Rose clearly telling her to do the same before there wasn't any left. "Now, adult conversation, yeah? So we both understand each other." He stressed in a more serious tone. "You didn't make me leave Dirk. You didn't do anything wrong." That needed to be made obvious because Dave wasn't about to become a schizophrenogenic mother.

"I left because I needed to go to work to get money, you remember what we used at the vending machine?" He asked softly, "Well I need a LOT of that to pay for clothes for you and toys." He said, "What do you think of the pizza? It's good right?" Right, staying on topic. "I don't like leaving you either Dirk, but I have to in order to be a good adult and be able to buy you everything you need and deserve." He explained. 

"When the doctors say you can come with me, I'll take you to my work okay? I'll show you how everything works and we won't have to separate." That didn't sound healthy and he knew what Rose was thinking without looking at her. 

"But we can't be together every single moment, Dirk. Because we have to spend time with lots of people and get to know them so that we have lots of people to love and look after us. But you're always going to have me as your big brother to look after you, and Rose as your big sister, and Roxy as your little sister, she's a day younger than you and she's big and brave and very kind like you, but when you meet you're going to have to look after her too because going outside and finding good people you can trust is importat." He wasn't sure he'd stayed on track but he hoped Dirk understood.

 

Dirk sniffed, looking up at Dave as he explained. It was hard for him to understand that this wasn't about him, but most children were fairly self-centred like that. Plus, this was a boy who didn't even know there were other people outside of himself this time last year.

Rose is proud of Dave for setting boundaries, but she knows it must be hard in a case like this. She needs to speak to him, and speak to Dirk, once he understands the world a bit better.

It's not perfect, but it's a start that she doesn't have to pester him for. 

Dirk rubs at his eyes under his shades before he grabs the paper again. He's careful with it, since he's been taking hesitant bites of the pizza. It's...weird, but not at all bad. New, that was a word for it. But it leaves his hands greasy and he doesn't want to get it on the paper. 

'I don't need toys if it means you have to leave more.' 

He'd gone this long without them, right? And he seemed to have more now than he'd ever know what to do with. 

A little odd, since he only had a few that weren't educational, but still.

 

Dave read the message and smiled softly before looking back to Dirk, "Everything else costs money too Dirk, food, the doctors needles, my home. Our home, I have to work, so does Rose, every adult has to." He doubted this was a concept Dirk was too happy with. 

"But we'll always come back, I miss you too when I'm gone but I have to go. I'm not punishing you when I leave." He knew that wouldn't change it feeling like a punishment for Dirk but didn't know what else to do he looked at Rose for help. "It just means that the time we do have together is even more special." The summary applying to the time he got with Rose ans Roxy too.

 

Dirk frowned, but he understood a little bit more now. Not much, money was a weird concept and the child would have to be introduced to society as a whole to fully understand the scope of everything, but for now, he was doing the best a ten-year-old could. 

He just hugged onto his brother a little tighter, pressed his head against his chest. He nodded, if somewhat reluctantly, when Dave talked about their time together being special. Of course it was, though, Dirk was already well aware of that fact. He just...didn't like how long Dave was gone. Before breakfast and until nearly lunch. 

He continued chewing on his pizza, though Rose spoke up when he didn't. 

"That's very nearly sweet, Dave," she said, nudging the box towards him, urging him to actually eat himself.

 

Remembering that food was there for him too at Rose's cue Dave rolled his eyes, which was meaningless behind his shades but shifted the tone in the room as he finished the slice going cold in his hand and grabbed a second as he went into complete aloof asshole mode as per Rose's jab. 

"Rose have you seen this body, I didn't just sit in sugar Lalonde, God made it to the finals of Master Chief coated me in some fine white powder and presented me as his desert making the judges god damn swoon, because a sugar high this grand has never before been experienced and the sugar crash was catastrophic. Both judges were sent into the sugar crash of the century and the Strider coma was born and the doctors gasped at wonders unforeseen - some say in this very hospital Rose you should feel honored to be a part of history - and the doctors cried out, 'quick we need a Lalonde in here! That salty bitch is our only hope at waking these judges! We must find out if Dave's Strider's won the title of not only sweetest ass but personality too! And as ever you took your sweet time Lalonde so the medical world took it into their own hands like hot damn Dave's sweet so now I believe the scientific term for sweet is 'Strider'."

He'd just meant to insult Rose, he wasn't quite sure where the rest of it had come from but he began eating a slice of pizza anyway. 

"So, what'd you two do today without me?" he asked mostly adressing Dirk because he was sure Rose was going to psychoanalyse him for how many times he'd spoken about sweet ass' in one breath and that was pretty gay- not that being gay wasn't okay. It was.

 

Rose stared at her brother for a long time. Her supposed brother. When he went on a rant like that, he was a distant cousin she hardly knew, she was happy to disown him. What even was a brother, she forgot the word entirely it meant so little to her. 

"Mmhmm. Besides exposing dear, sweet Dirk here to a string of profanities, you've also exposed dear, sweet me to them. Honestly, Dave, who knew you had such a mouth on you? And you've been doing so well. Isn't that right, Dirk?"

Dirk didn't know what exactly he was agreeing to, but he looked at her and when she gave him a thumbs up, he nodded in agreement. 

"He's a natural," she marvelled, undoubtedly taking note of every interaction.

Dirk just smiled a little seeing her happy, pressing against Dave more. Until Dave asked him a question, that was. He looked up, shrugging. He made the sign for watching TV (his thumb and pointer finger moving away from his eyes, and then the ASL letters T and V.). He then realised Dave wasn't there for more of their signs and pointed to the book they'd been going through.

 

Ignoring the violet eyes boring into the back of his skull Dave continued to focus on Dirk, Dave knew the ASK alphabet (mostly) he'd practiced a little at work to pass the time as he read music announcements and remained dangerously flirtatious with the news reporter despite not being interested in his stuttering ass in the slightest. 

"You learned some more too huh? Okay cool, lets clean off your hands and you can show me what you've been looking at. Well done on learning some more little man." He praised, picking up a napkin from the stack he'd stolen from the pizza place and handing it to Dirk to wipe his hands with, "You know how to wipe them? Like on the towels in the bathroom?" He asked not sure Dirk had encountered paper towels before, he picked up the book and opened it in the child's lap so he could find the right page. 

Whilst Dirk was flicking through the book he stated, "Lalonde, we both knew those words at his age and I've corrupted 'dear, sweet Roxanne' with them too." He mocked ever so slightly but his point was serious. "I'm helping making him just like any other kid and we should be more worried about getting him to talk before we're worried about his or my cursing. And in my defence I've been doing this for three days now." He wheezed as though not rambling was killing him.

 

As the week dragged on, Dirk slowly but surely warmed up to Rose. She figured that it might take the child more time to warm up to her, especially since she didn't really tone anything down, but it was best to go all at once rather than keep changing on the boy. 

He needed stability now more than ever. He didn't like it, but he was slowly growing used to Dave's sleep schedule. His tradition of eating dinner and curling in Dave's lap for a good hour after the man came home became tradition. Rose knew she shouldn't really speak about it, or about Dirk in general. She was too attached to both him and Dave to give a proper diagnosis or even give advice, but...

Well, to be fair, it'd never stopped her before.

She'd occasionally chastise Dave for being too clingy around Dirk. It wasn't really the man's fault, Dirk was clingy in the first place, but Dirk seemed to almost be getting to a point of codependence. It wasn't unusual for a small child, and it made sense in the context that Dirk was in.

Still. She worried, perhaps a bit too much. How could she not, though? This was her brother and now, her youngest brother. The missing piece of the puzzle that was the Lalonde-Strider family. 

(Lalonde obviously going first, of course.)

Dirk could and would function while Dave was out, but the child obvious relaxed and warmed up far more when Dave was around. Rose hoped that getting him into a new situation, into a home and not a hospital, would change that.  
As things stood, it was officially the child's last day in the hospital. The doctor that'd warmed up to Dave delivered the news, going as far as to hand him and somewhat walk him though the discharge forms himself. 

Dirk had grown somewhat on the nursing staff, once he was actually willing to smile and communicate with them. Truly, but the end of it all, Dirk had plenty of the staff wrapped around his charming little finger.

 

Throughout the week a relative structure had been formed to the families life, and yes Dave knew that he shouldn't be clingy but Rose had needed to work on Dave with that himself after 14 years with only aggressive physical contact, then almost two years of parenting that resulted in a dire need for contact that Rose had needed to help Dave with once he'd managed to get away from Bro at 16. 

Dave often let Rose read to Dirk before she left and Dave would rap the little man to sleep and spend the night until they switched shifts in the week mornings. Dave had been about to be promoted to weekends too but that was going to have to wait with Dirk's arrival. 

Still, he was pleased with Dirk's social progression, it was no wonder the nurses loved Dirk when he was so damn cute, the Strider genes were truly a wonder. Dave, excited for Dirk's release had woken up early and made a request from Rose to grab a pop-tart or bagel or something nice for breakfast for Dirk (that she thought he could stomach) on the way here. 

He had been arranging a hire car for Rose to come in because there was no way Dirk was ready for a motorbike, yet, when Dirk had woken up and Dave had smiled softly, "Morning, little man, you ready to get out of here?" He asked with the shades at the end of the room open, He'd slowly been trying to get Dirk used to the idea of 'outside' however he hadn't been able to take Dirk outside yet because of his Doctors reluctance and the press that still lingered in the first-floor lobby. Getting Dirk past them wasn't going to be fun.

 

Rose had a lot to work with Dave on, but she wasn't exactly surprised. She'd been working with her sibling for quite a while now on various things, and parenting was really fucking hard. Especially when you were just now getting a child back that you'd lost, especially when you were raising them at first when you were a child yourself, especially when you were abused yourself. 

Dirk was slowly adjusting to the light. Not...well, per say, but he'd tolerate it. Mostly, if not all, for Dave, but that was a good enough reason for the little boy. Still, he'd been adjusting pretty well with everything new that'd been thrown at him. Rose had even had him face time with Kanaya and Roxy. Roxy had been loud and a little too much, even just over facetime, but it was still nice to get to meet them. Roxy had even shown off the little bit of sign language she and Kanaya had been working on since Rose told them about the situation. 

Speaking of Rose, she was coming up the stairs now, one plain bagel with strawberry cream cheese on it. Simple enough that it shouldn't upset his stomach, but fucking delicious, if she did say so herself. 

Dirk nodded his head at the question, jumping out of bed to go get ready. He needed to get dressed in real clothes, because pajamas were apparently not real clothes and you weren't supposed to wear them outside of your house. Rose had taught him that. The hospital room wasn't a house, but she had insisted that the rule had still applied anyways. 

He had just wrestled on some comfortable clothes and was taking up his usual position clinging to his brother when Rose came in, wishing them both a good morning and handing the bagel off to Dirk, who took it happily with a proper "hello" and "thank you".

"It's a mess down there," Rose informed Dave, frowning as she straightened out her skirt. "Someone must had told them that Dirk was being released."

 

Dave, already ready, sighed as Rose informed him of the state downstairs. "Yeah I figured. Half the radio stations will have already reported on it." He commented bitterly, "My boss asked me for a statement to release in the news section." it was clear from Daves dismay that he'd given one despite not being pleased about it he'd rather his station got the information rather than the big shots. 

"Do you think I should just let it all die down or try a go-fund-me for whatever catch-up school I have to send the little man to?" Dave wasn't down on cash but he also had to facilitate a child into his bachelor budget which meant compromise at best and well he'd been wondering over the doctors advice for a while now and wanted Rose's input.

He let her think about it whilst Dirk ate, "Okay, Little man, So it's a big day for you and everyone outside knows it and they want to see you. So a group of people are outside that want to take a photo of you, you remember me showing you how cameras worked and face-timing with Rose? The light that comes on?" He asked hoping Dir understood. "Well there are going to be a lot of those with the group of people that are lucky enough to come and see you are going to try and take lots of photos of you no matter what we say, so we're going to have to make our way past them and then you can see what it's really like outside, and were we're going to live together, your home." He smiled trying to focus on the positive.

"When you finished eating we can put your sun cream on." Maybe it was for the best that Rose was around because Dave would have let Dirk leave in his pjs if he'd wanted.

 

Rose frowned when she learned that Dave had already given a statement. Poor guy, this was absolutely a lot and she knew it. Still, though, it was a...unique situation. They'd be over that, definitely. She hummed, hunting around and finding Dirk a jacket- something with a hood he could pull up over his head. They might be vultures trying to get a glimpse of the child, but they could at least control what they saw. 

Dirk had no problems letting go of Dave's legs one at a time to get his arms through the jacket, and he smiled when Rose flipped up the hood and told him how nice he looked. 

Dirk didn't understand the sheer amount of people down there. It wasn't too awfully big, the hospital could control it to some extent, but it was more people than Dirk had ever seen in one spot together before, that was for sure. And most of them would have flashing lights, and...well, that just wasn't going to be fun.

Dirk was eating the bagel still, but just the bits that Rose handed to him. It was easier that way, she'd learned with Roxy, to help keep the kids clean. Just a little bit at a time did wonders. Dirk got his last bit, though, and finished it up before holding his arms up to Dave. 

"You hold him and I'll put sunscreen on whatever part of him is still exposed?" Rose asked, knowing that Dave probably wouldn't say no to the child.

 

Dave looked at Rose appreciatively and nodded, "Yeah," He agreed picking Dirk up. "Make sure to do his ears and neck though, his scarring's worse on his face and around his neck." He paused for a second before adding "Hey, Dirk, hold your hands out for Rose and she's going to put some sun cream on your hands." He told him. 

"You have to wear this every day, especially before we go outside because your skin doesn't like the light, just like your eyes." He informed the child with a smile letting Rose finish putting the cream on before grabbing his overnight bag and slinging it over his shoulders and handing Dirk the small bag of chocolate bars he'd selected from the vending machine/ store to say thank you to the nurses with. He'd get the kid to write a cute as shit thank you card once they got home. 

"It won't feel as wet in a little while." He assured Dirk. At the new feeling of sun cream.

"You want to go say thank you one last time to the nurses and give them this?" He asked handing Dirk the back. Gradually Rose had taken everything back to Dave's with her over the past few nights before they were only left with what they'd needed today. "And then we can go home?" He encouraged. "Yo, Lalonde, you ready?" He asked adjusting Dirk on his waist as he walked towards the door. "When are the wife and Roxy getting here?" He asked curious about seeing Kanaya and his little sister again. Doubtlessly Karkat would lose his shit over his surrogate mother's return to Texas.

 

Dirk put out his hands for Rose, letting her spread the cream on. She rubbed it in as best as she could, though it'd still take a bit to dry. He scrunched up his nose as she got around his neck and face and ears, but he didn't try to argue or push her away, thankfully. 

Dirk decided pretty quickly that he didn't like the feeling- it was like he'd gotten out of the shower and couldn't get dry all the way. He shifted some in Dave's grasp, showing his discomfort, but he didn't try to rub it off, at least.

Dirk nodded when he was given the option of going out and seeing the nurses again. He liked them a lot more now than he did at the beginning, and he thought it was a pretty cool thing to get to give them something too, since they gave him food all the time. And chocolate was pretty rad, they'd surely like it, right? Right.

Rose nodded, doing a last sweep of the room before she deemed it alright for them to leave, apparently. She wasn't exactly keen on forgetting something important to the boy and needing to come all the way back here through the crowds to come get it. 

"We're all set to go. Kanaya and Roxy should be here by tonight. They'll get a hotel room and I'll stay with them there so everyone can be well rested when we all meet up tomorrow."

 

Noticing Dirks discomfort Dave massaged the cream into Dirks skin a little more and held him closer, a hand rubbing his back softly.

At Rose's response Dave nodded mentally planning Dirks introduction to Roxy, he hadn't been too fond of her over face time but calming the excitable Lalonde rarely worked out... and Dirk had never had to share his toys before... maybe Dave should try and find a kids movie about that? Did they have those? Dave had never watched any but he was sure Rose had some recommendations. 

"Sweet." He stated, breaking our of his head. "Okay little man, lets woo over these sweet nurses and get you some practice in for when you're older and sexy Halloween costumes become a thing." He carried Dirk out is the room and over to the nurses station. "Hello ladies, and gentleman." He greeted the same kind nurse as last time only instead of a pink hijab Mrs P was now in an orange one with white polka dots. 

"So it's our last day here for a while and the little man and I wanted to say..." he nudged Dirk who had the bag of goodies waiting for him to sign thank you something all nurses on the ward had become accustomed to seeing.

 

Dirk smiled when he went out and saw some of his favorite nurses. He was pretty dang excited when he finally signed ‘thank you’. He moved in his brother’s arms to mess with the bag, wanting to give the nurse the thank you presents. 

He was pretty excited to get to talk to them again. He didn’t like them as much as he liked Dave or Rose, but he liked them plenty. He liked them like he like Jade. She was nice and strong and make things less scary and she was so super cool! 

The nurses were also super cool and gave him stuff. This was fair, now, giving them something back. 

Rose hung back, standing in the doorway of Dirk’s room as he watched them. Observing her brother along with Dirk was always interesting. She hadn’t seen the way he’d treated Dirk before, but she had her assumptions. Getting to see those assumptions proven right was nice- Dirk had that man wrapped around his little finger, didn’t he?

 

The nurses smiled at the little boy, returning the sign and thanking him vocally for 'being such a good patient', that he was a 'strong boy', that they'd 'miss him' and much of the like. However, It was Ms P that Dave liked the best and allowed his lips to quirk in a small smirk that in public counted as a Strider smile at her farewell to Dirk. 

Ms P made the universal 'I see you' gesture followed by a lowered finger gun in Dirk's direction to say 'see you later' as she spoke, "You'll come and see me when you get your checkups won't you sweety?" She beamed, offering Dirk a handshake goodbye which Dave encouraged with a soft squeeze to Dirk's side before they finished handing out candy to the other nurses and Dave nodded to Rose, utterly enthralled with his little brother.

"You ready to go outside little man?" He asked walking with Rose towards the stairs knowing that elevators were something for another week. "It might be scary so you can hide your face against me okay? And then once we're past all the people with bright lights and in the car you can look outside and we're going to explore everything you want to once we get home." Dirk was a curious kid but Dave assumed the contents of his apartment would be enough to satisfy the kids curiosity for today.

 

Dirk shrugged when asked if he was ready to go outside. Dave kept talking about it, so he wanted to see it more, but it was also pretty scary. A lot of things were, but he trusted his brother. Still, he didn't quite get the hype besides just "Dave likes it". 

That was often reason enough for him anyways, though. He smiled as the nurses thanked him, waving at them as they made their way and shaking his favorite's nurse's hand. 

Rose normally loathed taking the stairs, just because she normally had to hike her long skirts up and felt like some old-timey movie protagonist running away from her overbearing father and right into the arms of her lover, only to be stopped by her father standing at the bottom of the stairs. 

Which was a bit much, but ridiculously reasons to hate stairs were better than some of the very real reasons she had to hate other things. She's rather ridiculous, illogical things she could easily get over rather than the very real and mostly scary hatred of seemingly ridiculous things her mother had given her that she might never get over. 

She's normally start up a banter with Dave about these things, but right now she was more concerned about Dirk. She images they both are, at this point. The commotion was a scarce few feet away now, and she imagined the boy wasn't going to deal well with it. She could hear them all down here now.

 

Okay. So, they had to get down the stairs, onto the ground floor, through the long, past the hords of screaming press, into the hire car that was waiting in the car park and then walk a block to Dave's place in an effort to get Dirk used to the idea of 'outside' and delay the inevitability of the press finding out where they live.... simple. 

"Hey, little man, remember what I said about the flashing lights - if they're too much for you just hide your face in my jacket and we'll be out of there asap." He hadn't taught Dirk the abbreviation yet but he was getting nervous and thus forgetful, he hoped Dirk didn't freak out. 

"Yo, sister mine," he had no clue where that language came from but shit he'd speak like one of Arthur Conan Doyle's characters if it helped him deduce the most painless way out of the hospital possible. "Could you go first and open the door for us so I can get Dirk straight inside, if were lucky Goth Weekly will get distracted and that'll be one less paper to worry about screaming at the little man." He could hear the dull roar from here, at the bottom of the staircase. 

With a sigh he looked at Rose, silently asking 'What the fuck am I doing? Who was high when they decided I was right for this role?' Before taking a deep breath, hugging Dirk close and opening the door for Rose to leave first. The roar picked up, someone having stalked Dave to find out who Rose was and news of Dirks 'cousin' had spread, a decent sum of photos were taken of Rose but that was nothing compared to the amount of questions. 

Thankfully police officers were there to hold the animals with cameras and microphones back so that they didn't swarm her or Dave with the child.

Releasing a sigh Dave kissed Dirks temple before stating, "It's all good, I got you, little man." And moving into the hospital lobby, to the open front doors and past the isle of white light and noise as Dave tuned out the screams of 'Dirk! Over here son!', 'Mr Strider, a statement?', 'How does it feel to have your brother back?', and carried Dirk straight into the back seat of the hire car glad he'd gotten one with tinted windows as they began to drive.

The photographers swarmed the car but soon they were left behind and the building of the hospital was fading away as they pulled out of the parking lot, other cars and trees and houses passing them by. "You okay, Dirk?"

 

Rose thankfully ignored his phrasing for now, though there was absolutely no doubt that she would end up using his own wording against him eventually. She was opportunistic, to say the very least, and to allow a quip like that to just slide was obviously unforgivable.

Right now, she had a little more on her mind than just roasting her sibling, though. She had to get another, younger sibling out of the crowds of people and to the car. She could prioritise. 

Rose spoke loudly as they went out, making sure to cause a scene. She didn't end up saying anything of importance, listing off various things that the press already knew. But, it was more than enough to get at least a few people to shut up, busy trying to record what she was saying to jab microphones at her siblings and try to get them to talk. 

Dirk flinched as soon as the door opened and he was exposed to the blast of cameras from outside. He clung tightly to his brother, hiding his face and whimpering at least a little as he tried to pull himself together. It was loud and scary and certainly not something Dirk wanted to deal with. He refused to move his face from Dave's neck, even when they got outside. 

He shook his head, still clinging tightly to Dave. Though the sounds of the press had faded, his ears still ringing with their words, the new sounds of the car were just as bad. He knew if he opened his eyes and tried to look out the window like he did when he was first brought out of his bunker, he'd be sick.

 

There had never been any doubt of the fact in Dave's mind but he was reminded of how much he loved Rose as she walked out, commanding the attention of the journalists and deflected all attention from Dirk to her for only a moment before Dave was hastily carrying the new addition to his life into the car. The flashing lights made him nervous, they clouded his vision, and the volume of everything made it impossible to hear approaching footsteps crowds made it impossible to easily locate threats. 

Dirk clung to him and Dave was thanking every deity that the little man hadn't pissed himself, rubbing the child's back in the car. "Don't worry it's over now," He promised, "The same people might try and find us later because they're so excited about me getting to be your bro again so we're going to have to be careful, but they're going to leave us alone for now and we're going to have a nice calm day as I get to show you our new home." He continued rubbing Dirk's back and looked up at Rose as though to ask if he was doing it right. 

With Roxy it was so much easier, she'd let you throw her in the air and scream again until your arms were sore and you were amazed her voice wasn't, she was so hard to upset and when you did an honest apology, hug, and candy bribe when Rose wasn't looking had you in the clear. The little girl was bold and fearless, Dirk was trying to acclimatise to an entirely new world and Dave had no idea how to introduce him to it... He'd have to get Rose to sort out therapy sessions with someone in Texas before she left.

"I've still got to move some stuff around, so you get to sleep in my bed tonight but soon you'll have your own bed, your own room, and we can decorate it any way you want- lots of colours, we could make your bed look like a horse, or a car, or a robot- just wait until you learn about robots little dude, Jade's super good with them." He wasn't sure that was true but he was rambling at this point as he gently pet Dirk's hair hoping the child would relax over the car journey. "We can put drawings and photos on the wall, a photo of when I had you as a baby, and then when I got you back." The best days of Dave's life. "What do you think Rose, should we pimp out the studio to be the little man's crib?" 

Studio was a nice term for it, Dave had converted the spare room in his place into a room for all his records, mess of music books and sheets and his turntables. They could all move to living room though- or a storage if they had to. Not like Dave would have endless nights to waist at the tables now he had a child to care for (as much as that sucked it wasn't a trade off).

 

Dirk nods, but honestly, he's hardly listening. And no one can really blame the kid, can he? He's still clinging tightly to Dave. He understands that he gets to stay with him tonight, and in the same bed. He doesn't understand individual rooms quiet yet- the whole bunker was his, but the hospital wasn't, but the hospital was also just sharing. So it's like going back to the bunker, but only one of the rooms is his, like the hospital, but the others are shared, except for a room that's Dave's. 

It's going to be a confusing while, but it shouldn't be too bad. Dirk's a smart kid, after all. 

Not that too many might agree. His knowledge is scattered, mostly, since he taught himself what was interesting. Which was almost everything, but there also wasn't a lot he could learn, and a lot that was straight up not available. 

He's doing his best to adjust. The visit from Roxy will be both welcome and overwhelming, but in the end he's mostly excited for it. After all, who wouldn't be kind of excited to meet more awesome people like Jade and Rose? He likes them both, so he's learned to trust Dave's tastes. Even the nurses ended up being really, really nice. 

Rose is quiet, lets Dirk cling to his brother and take in what he's saying without overwhelming the child. The new apartment will already be overwhelming enough. She's again glad she decided to stay in a hotel for this trip- all of them would be far too much for Dirk, it would seem.

 

Dirk didn't seem to want a conversation and as much as it caused a dull ache to spread in Dave's chest he understood, it just sucked there was nothing he could do to help the little guy. Dirk would have to adapt to cars at some point or there was no way he'd adapt to Dave's motorbike (which he so didn't want to trade for a car). Riding it allowed Dave to feel what he believed it was like to fly, a feeling Dirk deserved to know, when he was ready for it. 

Dave continued rambling for a while, Rose's silence making him nervous. He hated silence. But then he understood that maybe his metaphors weren't exactly helping Dirk so he hugged the child to him and just listened to the sound of his breathing, not willing to admit to his sister that the sound made him a little drowsy. Dave incapable of relaxing in easily intrudable rooms before. The car dew to a halt 10 minutes after Dave fell silent, having asked the driver to go straight to their apartment realising that a walk along the street was almost definitely too much for the kid before simply watching the traffic out of the window. 

As the car stopped Dave gently jostled Dirk, immediately alert, "We're here, little man, you ready?" Having pre-payed the driver Dave thanked the man and stepped out of the car with Dirk in his arms revealing a tall apartment building before them, not on the richest part of town but it looked pretty nice despite the large railway bridge just a block or so away. The red brick building had was slightly worn down with a black fire escape climbing its side but it had its raffish charms and Dave liked it even if it wasn't up to Rose's standards. He could afford to move somewhere nicer with the way his career was going but it didn't look like that would happen any time soon with another mouth to feed.

"Let's go inside, yeah?" Dave kept his focus on Dirk, leaving the door open for Rose as he unlocked the main doors into the building and then waited for his sister in the loby, if she wanted to take the elevator she could, Dave wouldn't rip the shit out of her for it too much with her carrying the bags and having helped him so much over the last week. "What do you think, huh? Apartment buildings are sort of like hospitals, except people pay to live there and they don't have to be sick. Everybody has their own apartment which is like the rooms in the hospital only people can have 3 or 4 rooms like in the hospital and use them for different things." Dave waited for Rose before beginning to walk up the stairs. Whatever the woman decided Dave had given her a key so she could follow or take the elevator but Dave was instinctively taking the stares, he always did, and Dirk probably wasn't ready for the elevator just yet.

Continuing to chat to Dirk as he carried him up the stairs regardless of the child's growing weight on his arms, Dave spoke about the concept of paying rent and that being why he had to work too, still trying to get Dirk to understand the concept of money. It only took Dave 5 minutes at a steady walk to reach the top floor, not even breathless, it was there he had his apartment, facing the railway tracks. The view had sold it for him. He held the door open as he stood in the doorway with Dirk allowing the child to absorb his new home.

There was a fairly minimalistic layout with a TV and couch facing away from the door, an open plan living room leading into a kitchen with a breakfast bar that seemed to be Dave's equivalent of a dinner table. There was a table covered in paperwork, mostly for Dirk, and a few old movie posters and album covers Dave had got signed framed and hanging up around the apartment. 

The kitchen was tidy, a sign Rose had been over, and fairly monochromatic with black and white tiles and black counter tops, the walls painted white- the landlord's choice not Dave's. Off to the side was a hallway leading to the bathroom, master bedroom, and studio - or soon to be Dirk's bedroom. "You want to take a look around, little man?" Dave asked his touch suggesting he'd put Dirk down if he was allowed.

 

Rose opted for the elevator, simply to give them a little more time. She went about putting things away, tidying up Dave's apartment a little. He did a great job at getting it ready for Dirk, but she's sure that a few stressful nights and basically living at the hospital didn't catch everything. 

Dirk almost fell asleep as they walked upstairs, playing with Dave's hair as he leaned on the other's shoulder, listening to him talk. He liked his voice, the stairs were small and familiar and calm, and the movement was nice. 

However, he was wide awake and alert when Dave finally opened the door. He looked around at everything, trying to take it in. This was Dave's, kind of, but also not really? It didn't make a lot of sense, but it was home.

Dirk hesitated for a long while, shifted in Dave's grip to actually look at things before he tentatively nodded. He needed to look around, this was home now, but...but it was so different than what he was used to. It wasn't..

He could do this, because Dave was here. And Rose too, finished what she'd started with helping to really tidy the place up. She smiled in encouragement, and it suddenly hit Dirk that they were all alone here- that they were the only ones in this apartment. Dirk knew everyone here and no one could just come in and he started warming up to it a lot more a lot quicker.

 

Dave waited for any response from Dirk, releasing a soft sigh of relief when the child nodded. He'd been afraid he'd have to hold the child for the rest of the night and walk him around everything and although he hated the cold patch that formed on his chest he was proud of the little guy for exploring. Slowly, Dave sat his little brother down on the floor, waiting for Dirk to capture his balance before standing straight, waiting to see where he went to look first. 

Noticing she'd tidied away his paperwork for Drik, Dave smiled, a soft twitch of his lip upwards as he closed the door behind him before walking over to join her in the kitchen. It wasn't even midday but he was exhausted from getting Dirk out of the hospital, never taking his eyes off Dirk, despite how it might look with his shades on he offered, "Coffee?" To his sister, feeling like they both needed it, also pouring a glass of aj for Dirk. 

Leaning back against the kitchen counter Dave simply observed Dirk asking, "What do you think little man? Like the feng shui of the place? Will it do?" He was joking it was the only option they had for the moment but he wanted to know what the child was thinking or feeling about his new home at the very least.

 

Dirk was taking a seemingly weird approach to assessing everything. He went into the living room, bending down to pat the carpeting. 

All the carpeting in the bunker had been worn down to nothing, and all of the hospital was tile. Of course, when Dave moved into the living room, Dirk trailed to make sure he still had the man in his line of sight- seeing over the breakfast bar wasn't that easy, after all. Once he was satisfied with how close Dave was, he went back to patting the floor. Once he seemed good with that, the walls were the next to be inspected, getting a good pat down as well. Then he was sitting on the floor, running his fingers over the baseboard of the wall. 

He looked around the place again when Dave asked before nodding, giving him a thumbs up and going back to inspecting the woodwork. 

"He's definitely your kid," Rose muttered, a smile on her face as she took a drink of the coffee she'd been offered. 

She had always asserted that Dirk was far more Dave's kid than their brother's. Just like Roxy was her kid, and not her mother's.

 

Dave probably didn't react as much as he should have to Dirk's exploration of the apartment because he could understand why Dirk was doing what he was doing, the flooring to the apartment was wooden, it was easier to hear approaching footsteps on than the cheap tiles of shitty carpet Bro had used to sneak up on Dave when he was a kid, but the carpet was one of the softest fucking things Dave had ever felt and he'd brought the large rug without any hesitation... and had to sleep on it a few nights after until his next pay day and he could afford to buy an actual bed. 

Of course, Dave could have asked for help from Rose with affording it all, but he was proud of what he'd achieved on his own. That pride went out of the window however when it came to raising Dirk, Dave refused to fuck it up. He gave his sister the side eye from beneath his shades as she mumbled taking a sip of his own coffee, "There's nothing wrong with understanding any threats in your new surroundings." He muttered back because she was right, Dave would probably behave similarly to Dirk in the same situation. 

"Do you think he'll be able to handle school?" He asked softly, knowing the sooner he got Dirk into school the better chance he had at becoming well adjusted to society. Dave couldn't afford a private tutor or to home school Dirk and although he'd do whatever he could to get Dirk caught up on everything he should know Dave was already looking at schools in the area to help the child, after seeing Dirk's reaction, planning on taking the kid on a tour of a school before sending him there so Dirk got an idea of what they looked like. "I was thinking maybe in a month or two when he's used to being... outside, if his therapist gives it the okay- I want you to pick the therapist though, I've never been good with that shit."

Just thinking about it made Dave's stomach churn. He watched Dirk for a little while longer, listening to Rose as they made quiet conversation- he didn't want Dirk listening in- before picking up the aj and joining Dirk, sitting by the kid. "Hey little man, you wanna drink?" He asked with a Strider smile, the corners of his lips curving up a little. "I used to love apple juice when I was a kid. Well, I mean I still do, this shit's the nectar of the Gods, little man. Oh, Shit, just wait until you figure religion out, I hope Texas doesn't convert you dude, 'cause that'll be a conversation..." He whistled wondering what kind of man Dirk would grow into, "Whatever, you're gonna be dope either way." He offered Dirk the glass of aj. 

"You feeling okay after this morning?" He asked knowing it'd have been a lot for the child.

 

Rose considered the question, looking back over to Dirk. He did alright with strangers, but only the ones Dave introduced to him, and only when Dave was around. If Dirk was going to be fine with Roxy, then maybe they could swing getting him around actual kids, but it'd take some adjusting. Dirk's old enough that he's missed some key developmental points, but he was still a kid. Kids were amazingly resilient, and Dirk had the best damn support system there was.

"I think if you can get him to adjust to both other people and not being around you in that month, then things will be fine. He'll be fine, you're doing great."

She continued to speak, making the light conversation until Dave got up. She watched, trying and failing to keep the smile off of her face as she saw her family interact. She loved them both dearly, and was glad to know that they'd be alright. 

Dirk stopped his inspecting when Dave sat down. He took the drink while the man rambled, trying it. It was a little sweet- not like candy sweet, but he liked this more than the grape juice from the hospital. 

He shrugged at the question, though. In fact, he sat down the drink on the floor once he was done and moved from sitting on the floor to sitting in Dave's lap, laying his head against the man's chest. This had been a lot, and despite hardly having done anything, he was tired. Stress took it's toll on this kid, and he was down for the count for a little bit.

 

That was Dave's challenge then, to expose Dirk to others and the outside world, to get him used to social interaction and not so aggressive in his attachment to him. Despite Dave enjoying the similarity of Dirk's reliance on him now to that of when he was a baby, it wasn't healthy he knew that but it was easier now that Dirk had chosen to trust him. Dave didn't show it with more than a slight nod but Rose's praise meant a lot. 

Letting Dirk crawl into his lap Dave sighed, "Damn little man, if this tires you out I have no idea how you're gonna handle Roxy." he smiled softly, stroking the child's hair. "Speaking of which, will you do the grocery shop for tomorrow for me, please?" Dave asked turning his head to Rose as he listened to Dirk's breathing evening out. "I mean rad as he is I don't think the little guy's ready for it." Dave admitted and it wasn't like they could go outside tomorrow for long periods of time without Dirk getting stressed or sunburn so they were going to have to stay in the apartment for most of the day.

"I was thinking movies and board games to keep Rox' happy and then the little guy's probably gonna get tired early but you could take Roxy to the park or out for ice cream if the little man needs a nap or something mid day?" Dave would love to do those things himself, he adored Roxy, but he had to look after Dirk which meant staying with him whilst he got used to the apartment. "Or if shit's going really well maybe we could take Dirk out too... but if you got popsicles or something maybe he wouldn't get jealous if we- you took Roxy out." Dave felt like he was navigating a mind field and Dirk hadn't really given him a reason to suspect he was in one yet, all things considered, the kid being pretty chill.

Still, with the kid passed out in his arms Dave left the topic for Rose to ponder as he tucked his little brother into his own bed for a nap, not wanting to wake Dirk by leaving him on the couch or having little ears listen to everything he needed to discuss with Rose.


	6. Tantrums and Trade-offs

Rose had amicable conversation with Dave after Dirk was put to bed. There was plenty of teasing and digs at him, though she avoided the sore subjects. They knew how one another worked, and it was a nice thing to just sit with some coffee and chat with her brother. 

She was just preparing to leave and head back to the hotel to prepare for tomorrow when there was a soft "thump". It came from the bedroom, and she looked over at Dave. If Dirk had woken up, she doubted he'd wanted to be greeted by anyone other than Dave. 

"You check on him- I'll be right here if you need anything."

She had her phone out already, in case this turned into an emergency. She'd already posted a number of numbers on Dave's fridge- child care, poison control, emergency contacts, and a number of highly trained (and highly expensive) therapists throughout Texas. She made sure they were good, though, and most accepted insurance or deferment payments, especially for single parents.

Dirk was in the bedroom. The thump would be from him scrambling to get off the bed. He was in a new place, he'd woken up here and he was terrified. He doesn't remember being taken, he doesn't remember the first time he woke up without his brother, but apparently the action happening again is enough to panic the child. It doesn't help that his dreams were all haunted by horrific looking monsters shouting too loud with dangerously bright flashes. He was currently hidden under the bed, curled up and watching the door.

 

Putting Dirk to bed was a lot easier when he was already asleep. Dave had left the door open so Dirk could hear them if he woke up and just sat up generally mocking Rose for today’s appearance looking a little ‘bi-furious’. He didn’t care how dorky the reference was when he started rambling in retaliation to his sister’s jibes.

At the ‘thump’ he froze mid-ramble, nodding at Rose’s instructions, still not entirely sure how to parent and before she could finish her sentence Dave had arched over the back of the couch and landed softly on the floor behind it, walking without making a sound came as part of living with Bro and Dave generally amused himself when his silent arrival scared the shit out of them.

That wasn’t quite what he was going for with Dirk however he slowly pushed the door open the toes of his converse reviled to the child under the bed as he remained silent until his eyes honed in on the little guy’s too skinny ankle poking out by the beds leg. “I’m gonna have to teach you some way better hiding places before you start playing hide and seek, Little Man.” He teased softly moving into the room and sitting down with his back against the bed, leaving space for Dirk to crawl out.

“You okay, Dirk?” He asked in a softer tone, perhaps overly concerned for the child. Rose seemed calm but Dave couldn’t help immediately imagining the worst again, looking for open windows and signs of kidnapping.

 

Dirk, of course, didn't speak. He wasn't that used to people being here after a nightmare. Still, as soon as his brother was there and sitting down, he easily crawled out and right onto the man's lap, clinging to him. 

He'd been so freaked out, scared and holding his breath and waiting. Now, he seemed to relax. Seeming to relax, of course, meant crying into Dave's shirt and holding onto the man.

As upset as he seemed, it was...nice. To not have to be scared and look over your shoulder and wait for the bad thing to come. He still had stuff to do, he still needed to get up. Sometimes he couldn't force himself, would stay hidden after nightmares all day until he could finally get his body to respond, until he convinced himself it was fine. That all seemed to go out of the window now that someone else was actually here and helping him. He could just cling to Dave and assume that the man would take care of him, like he always did.

 

Dave had no problems with his little brother clinging to him, or damping his shirt with tears- well, of course he had a problem with Dirk crying, he didn't want the child to cry but his hand rubbing firm circles on the child's back clearly said it was okay to cry. "Hey, Little Man its okay," he cooed softly. 

"I'm here with you, you're safe." He reiterated. "I'm sorry did the new room freak you out? I meant to show you around the entire apartment before bed-time but you fell asleep and I figured you'd be more comfortable in a bed. This is my bed actually- we're going to have to go out and get you one too." He pet Dirks hair back so it wouldn't cling to the child's wet cheeks as he cried. His tone soft and calm. 

"I left the door open for you so that you could come find us when you woke up- we were just outside don't worry we didn't leave you. What where you under the bed for huh?" He rested his chin on top of Dirks head. "Its probably gross and dusty under there." He picked a piece of fluff off Dirks shoulder, "Want to go and see Rose again?" He mused liking to spend as much time with his sister as he could before she had to return to New York, he wanted Dirk to get as well acquainted with her as the little guy could too.

 

Dirk was moving his mouth as if to speak- he was trying to, he wanted to. He just cried a little more when nothing came out again and wiped at his face before spelling it out.

'Nightmare. Lights. Loud.'

Perhaps that was enough to get across what he wanted. He looked around the room- he didn't know what a lot of the stuff was, but it was Dave's. That made this room instantly safer. Dave wouldn't have dangerous things in his room, wouldn't let bad people get into it. 

He nodded quickly at the idea of seeing Rose again. She was good- he liked her and Jade. She was a little intimidating, but in a good way. She was scary to other people, and another protector. 

He had no clue that his whole family was kind of like that- a little scary seeming, but really good. He would probably get used to it in time though, hopefully. It was a good start, in any case.

 

"Ahh, okay, I get you little man." Dave in fact had very little idea at what Dirk had dreamed about, but nightmares sucked regardless and the little guy clearly wanted a response. "That sucks, don't worry though I'm an adult this time, I'm going to keep you safe." 

At the nod Dave smiled to himself and went through the ordeal of standing up whilst keeping Dirk pressed up against his chest, "UUUuughh-" He groaned pulling himself up off the bed, because using his core was effort, and jostling Dirk in his grip so he had a better hold on the kid before carrying him into the living room, the corridor extending behind them to reveal three more doors, a water closet, bathroom, and the studio - Dirk's bedroom to be.

It sucked that Dave couldn't have had it all ready for Dirk so the apartment wouldn't have had to have been disrupted and maybe freak the kid out, but he supposed it was better Dave was there to supervise it all and actually give Dirk the bedroom he wanted. That and he doubted Dirk was ready to sleep on his own yet anyway.

Dave's room was as clean as it had ever been, red sheets on his bed (now unmade after Dirk's use), walls with a few photos hung up on them; one of Dave, Jade, Rose, and a blue eyed boy that Dirk hadn't met yet - although they'd been girls and boys when that photo had been taken, another of Dave and a scowling man who was flipping off the camera, one of a Dave that was only a bit younger with a woman in glasses licking his cheek (Dave had foolishly expected a kiss from Terezi), and there was a slightly frayed Polaroid of a young Dave pouting ironically at the camera with a peace symbol held next to his face. There was a taxidermy crow on his shelf- Rose had received a matching one with an Edgar Allen Poe book in return for an ugly as shit sweater that Dave wore whenever the holidays approached. The crow sat along side a few books, a few knickknacks from holidays and keepsakes from people that Dave wouldn't admit to being sentimental about. Beneath the shelves was a desk with a few notebooks on it along side a radio with an old shoe box open on top of it and a record played balanced on top of a cabinet full of records, colourful strips tightly packed together. 

His windows were shaded by cheap folding blinds and slightly wonky jell squares stuck to his window that cast grey light into the room instead of the yellow afternoon light, dimming it and making it easier for Dirk's sensitive eyes to tolerate despite the few gaps and overlapping edges. Not that it mattered as they left the room behind to go and see Rose.

"Yo, Lalonde, Little Man had a nightmare-" Dave called on the short walk back into her company. "Think we should crack out the skittles and the Disney movies?" He asked referring to the ones Jade (and Jake) had kindly provided. "What do you think, huh, Dirk? You hungry? Thirsty? Need to know where the bathroom is?" So maybe Dave was horrified at how much he sounded like Kanaya and her fussing.

 

Rose was, perhaps obviously, unsurprised at how well Dave took to fussing over his brother. Dave seemed like the fusser and Dirk was someone who needed to be fussed over. It was a wonderful fit. 

"Of course. I think starting with something like the Little Mermaid would cheer him up."

She was careful to avoid a few name Disney movies that centred around death of a parent. Ariel just had her father, like Dirk. And she wasn't kidnapped or captured, or not for too long without someone coming and saving her. It seemed like the least sad yet most colourful Disney movie that they had at their disposal to begin with. 

Dirk was still clinging to Dave, but he seemed to calm down plenty as soon as the man started walked, babbling along and meeting up with Rose again. He gave her a teary smile and a wave as she moved past, pressing a kiss to Dirk's hair before fishing out the new kids movies from where she'd had them stashed away in the house. 

Dirk shook his head at Dave's fussing, though, a little proud that he was as alright as he was. It hadn't even taken an hour to calm down, and through Dave may not know it, that was pretty much a record.

 

Dave paused for a second trying to remember which movie that was before nodding and carrying Dirk towards the kitchen. It may seem laughable to most that Dave didn’t know which movies where which, especially with ‘mermaid’ in the title but having never watched them as a child it was Jade sitting him down for a movie marathon when they’d first met in person at college to ‘enrich him’ with the assistance of Rose psychoanalysing each character trope and definitely not silently sneaking Dave tissues when he needed them, whilst John and Jade sang horrifically out of tune to EVERY SONG.

He wondered which movie Dave would end up liking the best. Aladdin wasn’t bad. Dirk had received a second kiss to the temple from Dave and a quiet, “Dope.” As he carried Dirk to grab food whilst Rose dealt with the movie.

Rose planted a kiss on Dirk’s head and Dave made an indignant sound in the back of his throat as he walked into the kitchen, resting Dirk on his hip as he pulled out a bag of microwaveable popcorn and a large bowl to put it in. He wouldn’t force Dirk to eat lunch, they could have a bit of a candy binge for the little guy dealing so well with moving and then eat properly at dinner. “It’s a little early for you to start pushing the kid into make-up, Lalonde, perhaps if you toned it down to clown level the little man wouldn’t look like the lone goth entry in a beauty pageant, we’re gonna have to train him to walk in heels before he sets his eyes on the prize of Little Miss Texas,”

Dave rambled as he ripped the plastic sleeve off the packaging with his teeth before shoving the popcorn in the microwave and turning it on, forgetting Dirk had likely never experienced it before and charging on to get the little guy a glass of water and then a bag of skittles- they were making this happen, a legendary Stri-Londe movie matinee, hells yes.

 

"Hush, make up is obviously the next natural step. He's been in what most would consider dresses his whole life, I'm sure he wouldn't be too opposed to looking pretty."

Pants were a new idea to the kid who'd been running around in other people's shirts for his whole life. Of course, Rose was mostly offended that Dave thought she left the house without applying both a matte paste and a concealer, but she wasn't going to get into that part. 

Dirk watched as Dave gathered things. He'd occasionally reach out to brush his hand against whatever it was Dave had, but that was about it. It wasn't until the popping noise that Dirk freaked out. He grabbed around Dave's neck tighter, whining as he hid his face.

 

Everything Dirk touched got an explanation as Dave questioned if Dirk had dealt with it in the bunker. 

Dave didn't make a sound of protest as Dirk rammed his shade adorned face into his neck, not at all, although he quickly gathered the assumption that by the time Dirk went to college he'd have two new scars on his neck and shoulder the width apart of Dirks glasses. It took the new dad a second to figure out what was freaking Dirk out. 

His eyes honed in on the popcorn and the soft haze of surreal normality that had come with putting Dirk to bed like he'd never left Dave's care and watching movies lifted. "Hey, Dirk, I've got you right? So you're safe. You know I'm not gonna do anything to hurt you so take a deep breath and I'm gonna show you something new."

He stayed in the end of the kitchen opposite the microwave but facing it. "Come on, little man, trust me." He stated calmly. "So that's a microwave, you remember I said it cooks things for us?" He pointed at the machine, "Well that's all its doing now. I'm making something called 'pop' corn and it's generally pretty loud. Like right now. All that's happening is the food is getting really really hot in the microwave and its-" exploding out of its kernel wasn't going to be a good explanation. "- its uh, growing so there's more to eat see- can you see the paper bag rising through the glass? Its all good your safe, don't worry little man, it only takes a couple of minutes-" the ping sounded signalling that it was done "-and now I can show you," he walked towards the microwave, bouncing Dirk softly on his hip.

Opening the door he revealed the flat packet Dirk had earlier inspected at 5 times its size at least and steaming slightly. "See how I told you it wad making that noise because its growing?" He said with a smile. "Now I'm gonna put you down because its hot right now and I don't want you to hurt yourself, but I think Rose really wants to show you this movie so if you go sit with her on the sofa I'll bring everything over." He promised attempting to make Dirk stand on his own.

 

Dirk didn't understand breaking the illusion, but he did understand the voice that Dave used to explain new things to him. Perhaps that'd eventually make him sad, having to have Dave explain things he should already know. For now, though, so new to the world and other people, he didn't know how different he was, how much extra Dave had to put into everything. 

He smiled, pressing a kiss to Dave's hand in silent apology for not trusting him before he scurried off to the living room. Rose smiled as he entered, interacting with him just as she did Roxy. That meant that when Dirk got onto the couch and leaned against her, he got an arm around him and soft explanations of what they were about to watch. 

That's where Dave would find them in a second, curled up as Rose explained the concept of a mermaid to the boy. It was something a little hard to grasp when you hadn't been given a lot of that kind of literature as a child, but it was hopefully worth it. Dirk seemed to be enjoying the conversations, making up signs for things that they hadn't quite learned yet.

 

It did make Dave sad that Dirk understood so little of the world around him but for the moment in a double standard Dave was glad that it still got to be him that taught Dirk everything in an all be it more complicated situation but that was just how it worked. Dirk kissed his hand and Dave could have melted into an extremely stoic puddle on the floor. It was hard to deny the heat colouring his caramel cheeks before he coughed softly to clear his throat aware Rose would probably have some snarky comment about boys kissing his hand when they were in private but for the moment he was utterly enamoured with his little brother and set about making the best movie session ever for the kid. 

Popcorn, skittles, soda and water ready Dave came out like a soccer mom at half time with snacks for his siblings. He set the snacks down noticing their proximity glad that they were comfortable with each other, quickly doubling back to lower the blinds so there was more of a cinema effect before returning to the movie and deciding to be a complete douchebag sprawling his gangly ass out over the both of them. 

He flopped his legs onto Roses lab because he knew it would irritate her and repressed a grin as he let his long ass legs drape over the little man too. Whilst he rested his head on the arm rest at the other end of the couch. "Prepared to get schooled in the way of underwater princesses little man." Dave proclaimed picking up the child size bowl of popcorn (more on the table) and handing it to Dirk, "And try this whilst you watch people normally eat popcorn with movies, Dirk, if you don't like the salty stuff we can forgive your heathenism and try sweet popcorn next time." He summarised, presenting the bowl to the child although the was Dave lay across both of them to take up as much room as possible it was debatable who was the child.

 

Rose would have given the older brother a talking to if Dirk didn’t take so quickly to it. He smiled, resting his arms across his brother’s legs and eventually setting his popcorn on top of it. It seemed he enjoyed having both of his known family members so close. 

Instead, Dave got a Look. This particular Look told him that he’d gotten off only because their adorable younger sibling would protest him stopping what he was doing. This was a look she gave often when she allowed her brother around Roxy. 

However, things seemed to be perfect. Dirk was glued to the screen, again enraptured by something actually meant for children while Rose spent her time observing both of her brothers rather than really watch the movie.

 

If Dave had been a planner he'd have started pulling shit like this in Dirks hospital room. The soft smirk on his lips that she received in retaliation with a slight toe wiggle clearly stating that this shit had only just begun, his child back in his life reigniting the childish spark in Dave that he'd had dorming (and pulling pranks) with John at University, and that the only way for Rose to win would be to out do him. 

Although Dave was secretly delighted at Dirks reaction. He lay quietly throughout the whole film, Ariel not immediately knowing some words or things relating to Dirk more than Dave had originally realised that definitely played a chord on his heart strings but Dave stayed quiet, watching Dirk and explaining anything he didn't understand or pointed at throughout the film. At some point just raising an arm to play with Dirks hair, petting him softly, otherwise Dave looked like he could have fallen asleep if he hadn't constantly been prepared to answer any of Dirks silent questions even if occasionally it took a couple of guesses or a spelling on his hand to figure out what the child wanted to know. And of course providing all the candy and drinks Dirk wanted but couldn't reach. 

He wondered if he should get Dirk to watch with subtitles too to get a better understanding of spellings and phonics... he'd ask Rose about it later. Other than that he sat and watched Dirks reactions, smiling softly to himself at the kids excitement without realising it. When the movie ended Dave forced the soft smile off his face and sat up- "What d' you think, little man?" He asked wondering if Dirk liked it or not, he had a hunch but he'd ask just to engage with the child anyway.

 

Rose had been right- watching the two was far more entertaining than watching the movie. It was refreshing to see that spark back in her brother. He'd always been Dave, and being Dave contained a certain amount of mischief, but she hadn't seen him like this in far too long. 

One might be inclined to believe that a childish guardian might be bad for someone, but it was obvious how well Dave had taken to having his brother back. He was attentive and patient and all the things one might not immediately associate with Dave. 

Rose can't say she's surprised- simply pleased to watch how he seemed to flourish with this new role. It'd taken a few bumpy months to adjust to having Roxy, and then another patch of readjustment when they'd moved in with Kanaya. She's sure things won't be this smooth the whole time, but it was easy to say that they'd work out just fine.

Once the movie was over and Dave asked him, Dirk seemed absolutely delighted. Similar to plenty of other kids, Dirk got chatty after the movie, having not only say quietly for the whole duration of the movie, but because he loved it and was excited and wanted to talk about it.

His way of talking was a little different, of course, but it was still there. There were a lot of words he didn't know and ended up spelling out, some things he stumbled through because of his excitement and just ended up spelling on Dave's hand. 

The gist of it would be that Dirk was excited about how Ariel couldn't talk as well. His new hypothesis was that maybe someone had stolen his voice, but it'd be alright because Dave already loved him and therefore the curse would be broken.

 

The soft smile Dave had just wiped off his face at Dirk watching the movie returned to Dave's relatively still expression as Dirk began 'talking' Dave's palm flat out like a note pad for the child. They were really going to have to work on some more sign and if Dirk really did start talking again (like he'd claimed to do in the bunker) then at least it would be a way for Dirk to handle learning to talk to strangers and hopefully Roxy assuming Rose continued to teach the others after they returned to NY. 

A couple of times Dave had to re-spell or guess things from Dirks excitement but when he figured out what Dirk was saying his heart swelled up and his gaze found Rose. "Holy shit Lalonde Dirk's gonna give me diabetes." He stated having repeated most of what the kid wrote on his palm aloud. 

"Yeah little man, you're gonna be spitting some sick rhymes with me asap because you've got a whole crew of people who love you, Rose, Roxy and Kanaya and Jade and shit you're gonna be an opera star with all the talking and singing you're gonna be able to do when you get your voice back, right Rose?" He rambled a little but the message was clear as he pulled Dirk into his lap. "So, what do you wanna do, Little man? I'm pretty sure there were some Disney colouring books in the box Jade got you you wanna have a go at that?" 

He looked at his watch to find that it was only late afternoon, "What do you think we should do for dinner?" Dave asked looking at his sister, the sibling raising guru. He felt some what guilty that he'd provided Dirk with every snack within the apartment during the movie but Dirk deserved a little spoiling now that he was finally back in Dave's care.

 

Dirk laughed as he was pulled into Dave's lap. The longer he was around him, he more he was able to pick out more words from Dave's rambling. He perked up at the idea of the Disney colouring books, so he nodded. He was going to fucking love crayons. Pencils and pens weren't so great for colouring. 

Rose "hmm"ed, thinking through their options as she pushed Dave's legs off of her and went to look at what he actually had in the kitchen. 

"Well, we'll obviously want something light. I doubt anyone's too awfully hungry after the snacking. Do you have frozen vegetables?"

Frying up some vegetables in a little teriyaki sauce did a lot to make things more appealing to kids. She wasn't sure where Dirk stood on being picky with food, but it still might be good to stay on the cautious side anyways. 

Dirk, during all of this, was tugging at Dave, wanting to know where the colouring books were. He was apparently pretty impatient to move onto this next thing.

 

Rose pushed Dave's legs off her lap and he gave a mock gasp of offence, "Dude..." he shook his head and looked to Dirk, "So not cool little man- She's just gonna up and usurp my feet like that, and I even put clean socks on for your arrival home today." He shook his head with mock disdain before picking Dirk up and swinging him over his shoulder so that he was looking over his back, legs pinned to Dave's chest keeping him in place. 

Dave normally threw Roxy around a little bit, he knew he was rougher with her than Rose but he also knew he'd throw his body onto the floor as a landing pad faster than gravity could handle if he ever fucked up so the kid would always be safe. Admittedly he was more cautious with Dirk aware he was more fragile than the average child but as he stood up he doubted the child would care- "Right then, Dirk let's get you scrawling the colours of the rainbow all over my pad until I can't get the deposit back." He chimed standing up and walking over to the box of stuff they'd left by the door as Dave had to re-evaluate where everything in his apartment was housed and where space for Dirk's stuff would be made. 

He should probably get a trunk for all the kid's toys- considering he was 100% going to double the number of them before the end of the month. He slid Dirk off his shoulder into his arms and then onto the floor in front of the box so they could explore it's contents as Rose spoke. "Considering you always buy them when you visit and that's the only time I eat them? Yeah, should do." He nodded, he had candy and such lying around the house but it was safe to say Dave ate a lot of fresh foods, his body craving them still after the first 16 years of his life being pretty much always out of a takeaway box.

Removing a couple of bags of clothes and a box of animal cards Dave located a small stack of colouring books, one was puzzles which Dirk had started on during the hospital and the one beneath it Disney themed. "This look good to you little man?" He asked holding it up to Dirk as he searched for the adjoining pack of crayons before handing them over too. "Sweet, why don't you sit at the coffee table," He gestured over to the snack covered table as he packed the debris from their search away, and then lead Dirk over so that he could pack the snacks away giving Dirk some space to draw and join Rose in the kitchen. "We're going to be in there thinking up something better than hospital food that won't make you feel sick, okay, dude?"

 

Dirk was absolutely delighted to be tossed over someone's shoulder. Or, you know, to be picked up at all. It was such a weightless feeling, and the giggle of delight that followed the movements probably proved that it was certainly a new favorite of the child's. 

He watched carefully as Dave moved things around. He knew what most of the stuff was for, but not all of it yet. He was still learning a lot of things. Crayons he had a very good idea about, though, and he clutched them tightly when they were handed over, though he was careful not to break any. 

He got very much into the colouring book as soon as it was in front of him, sticking out his tongue as he figured out the pages and how he wanted everything to look, picking out the perfect colours for his scene. He was doing one of the Ariel pages, of course, and he was matching the colours as best as he could. 

He also seemed pretty meticulous, staying inside the lines best as his hand-eye coordination would allow. 

Rose was already popping the bags into the microwave to steam them and get them ready for cooking as she searched the somewhat familiar apartment for a skillet. A little butter melted in, some teriyaki sauce, maybe just a pinch of garlic and honey and it'd be perfect for the child- sweet, but still good for you. 

"We," Rose mocked, watching Dave. "Well, if you're going to tell Dirk we're both cooking dinner, you might as well come over here and see how I'm making this. I will accept no phone calls after 10 pm my time for you needing to know how to prepare this because he likes it so much."

 

Dave just stood back and observed Dirk for a second, the kid was neat, at least when colouring and that was pretty interesting. The guardian was fairly certain that most kids Dirk's age scrawled with ridiculous inaccuracy over the pages, but maybe that was just younger kids? Dave had missed that part of his kids life so it was hard to tell if he'd missed that bit too- not that Dirk was Picasso or anything.

Rose scoffing snapped Dave out of his head where apparently he'd just been standing behind Dirk by the table observing his work over the child's, particularly bony shoulders. "So you'd rather be reading Harry Potter smut fics to your girlfriend than making sure your little brother ate? That's heartless even for you Lalonde." Dave teased because that had definitely happened before. But they both knew that Rose would answer each of Dave's calls unless it was the third stupid question of the night when Dave missed her and was just intentionally bugging her. 

Regardless Dave walked into the kitchen to 'help'. "I'm pretty sure there are only so many ways Draco can fuck Harry, Rose, you could take the time over your schedule of reading and writing gay porn to provide for your family-" He raised his hand before she could protest, "But this isn't one of your novels. I'm not going to fight with you in front of the child and send you off to seek comfort with some other woman before having a whole make-up arch dedicated to us and the emotional scarring of Dirk. No. I'm going to plonk my perfectly plump rump next to yours whilst you show me how to get saucy up in here."  
What had his original point been?

Sometimes he himself found it hard to remember but clearly, Dave was looking forward to having Kanaya and Roxy over if he was talking about either of them. And his slight bump of shoulders with Rose clearly stated there was no foul play as he did lean over to look at what she was doing and follow orders if she gave them, he'd have to get her to write this shit down so he didn't fuck it up- if Dirk liked it. The child was still going to have to eat healthily regardless as long as he lived with Dave, dude had a row of about 10 cookbooks on the counter pressed against the wall ready for use. After having had to cook for himself (and briefly Dirk) since he could remember Dave took a quiet pride in being able to cook.

 

Dirk was showing a lot more precision than most kids his age- though it wasn't unusual for kids to be able to color inside lines (whether or not they did that was another thing), but Dirk seemed almost mechanical in the way he tackled the picture. Top to bottom, not the main focus first, not color by color. 

But, learning that Dirk was a little different than most kids should really come as no shock to anyone. Getting him in a school would be an adventure, though.

Rose had given up trying to decipher Dave's original point long ago. He usually got to where he was going verbally just fine, and it was much more interesting to see the things that slipped out as metaphors rather than just what he meant by them.

"That's close-minded, Dave. There are always new ways, and you should know that by now. Or do I need to give you some more explanations behind some of my favorite scenes again? You know I'm always more than happy to enlighten you, dearest brother."

If Dave brought it up, Rose would absolutely use it as ammo against him. She couldn't wait until tomorrow, when she could have Kanaya to back her up. As much fun as she had hanging out with just Dave, having the whole family together was similarly a blast. Besides, she wanted to make sure Roxy got along with the newest member of the family. While she was a bit loud and rambunctious (which she teasingly blamed Dave for), she was a considerate girl. If you had any doubt of that, you just had to observe her when she was handling cats.

 

Rose offered to send him the scenes and revived such a deadpan expression poker players across the globe were struggling to figure out what the fuck Dave was thinking. He was currently thinking that his evil sister knew damn well he'd read everything she'd sent him so far and he sure as shit didn't need to catch a boner any time soon. "Lalonde you know the tender and loving way you coaxed me into liking dick? You remember that? No. Me neither. We're gonna keep Harry's chode the fuck out of Draco's 'engorgioed' ass and make veggies." 

The truth of the matter was Rose in her wisdom had been slamming Dave with some rather aggressive psychology about his sexuality since they were kids and his open nature about it fluctuated with how secure he felt, the fear of Bro still creeping up on him from time to time. Those were the times Rose got very round about facetime calls in the middle off the night when he needed to talk to his sister - these instances grew rarer with time but they both knew Dave wasn't on entirely steady ground with Dirk reintroduced into his life so maybe they should both cool it a little bit. But mostly Rose because Dave was an ass.

"Also I don't want another insight into your fetishes Lalonde, you read about so many wands up asses, and for a lesbian that's pretty gay Lalonde." He spoke in a tone that almost suggested he knew what the fuck he was talking about. "Freud would be writing a paper on all your wand envy." He teased before walking to the cupboards to grab some glasses.

"You wanna drink?" He asked as it mostly seemed to be just waiting for the vegetables to cook for the moment. "Oh. And um, do you think I should get Dirk to start watching shit with subtitles so he understands phonics and spellings more?" Teasing aside Dave respected the shit outta Rose for raising Roxy and would refer to her on how to do it right. He didn't give a damn how loud the little girl was Dave thought she was perfect and spoiled the shit out of her when they met up, which he didn't need Rose to tell him was his subconscious' way of trying to make up for what had happened with Dirk. He wanted to raise Dirk the best way he could too.

 

Rose smiled behind her hand, watching the still look on her brother's face. She knew damn well what that look meant, even if the rest of the world wondered on about what cards he was holding. 

"Right, I completely forgot that butt stuff is strictly a man's sport. You know, if you'd like some reference, I might have to switch it up some. Hermione and Luna could teach Harry and Draco a thing or two about putting a wand to good and proper use. And besides, if you think Freud would get to any psychoanalysis should we ever meet, you're a fool. It'd be a waste of his time to have anything less than hard drugs, liquor and women, David, honestly."

Rose was more than happy to joke around with Dave, but she hummed after his question, stirring the vegetables before putting a cover on them to let them steam for a moment, moving to lean her hip against the counter as she thought. 

"It wouldn't be a bad idea, certainly. It might help him learn to multitask as well. Who knows what he's currently capable of. Children of his age usually have a fairly good grasp of it, and he seems perfectly bright, but he had such a limited environment growing up."

She shrugged, leaving her opinion out to air as she watched Dave. As much as he respected her, she respected him right back. He's stronger than perhaps anyone else she knew for a variety of reasons, and taking in Dirk again was simply proving her point- especially with the lack of consideration that went into the matter. Not in a negative way- he knew what the cost was, what he'd have to change to be able to do something like this. It was just that the challenges in no way outmatched the benefits in his mind, and she respected that greatly.

 

At the shots back about Freud an uninvited "Pffffftt." Escaped the Strider's lips, which he attempted to cover with a cough. Touché, Lalonde. Touché. "Dear, God, Lalonde, if you're going to start burning bras could you go out on the fire escape? I just got the carpet dry cleaned." He cleared his throat again although despite the reference to Porrim's feminists rallies, which Dave had laughed at Rose for having to attend her girlfriends sisters rallies repeatedly about, it was obvious Rose had won this round forcing her brother to crack. Oh he was a feminist for sure, but the rallies or 'meetings' went on for hours, which after the Pizza was gone Rose couldn't nope out of until Porrim was satisfied, sometimes he'd provoke rants and then just disappear to piss Rose off and derail the meeting for another half an hour.

He nodded at her thoughts on subtitles, pouring them all glasses of water and setting the breakfast bar up for the three of them to eat at and before he could be forced to take the brunt of his sisters wit again occupied himself with Dirk. "Yo, Dirk, put the crayons back in the box for a sec." He instructed. "You can colour again after dinner, but we've gotta wash you hands before dinner. Also you haven't been to the bathroom since we got here, you need to know where everything is otherwise you're gonna- well yeah, whatever, we gotta wash our hands, come on little man." He stated leaving the confines of the kitchen, waiting for Dirk to do as he was told before offering a hand up to the child.

Dave hadn't had any major problems with Dirk and toys so far so he wasn't really expecting any defiance right now.

 

Rose loved Kanaya a huge amount, and in turn, she loved Kanaya's sister like her own. Porrim was smart and quick and sharp in all the right ways. She was a pleasure to have over, and the lessons she taught little Roxy were valuable, even if they just got their already overly-excited and independent girl a little more riled than necessary. 

Still, she slapped Dave's arm because he was absolutely a menace at both the meetings and the rallies. Good to rely on during a protest, a fucking nightmare during a rally. 

Dirk looked up when Dave instructed him to put the crayons away, then back to his picture. He frowned, looking between the two again before holding the crayon a little tighter, moving a hand up to indicate "one more minute", which was just him holding up a finger, but the signal was pretty universal, right?

Right. Dirk was so close to being finished with the first half of the picture, and he didn't want to stop until things were all colored halfway down. He'd broken up the picture into segments and colored those instead of focusing on focal points. All in all, there were five rows and ten columns he'd mentally divided the picture up into, and he was almost through the third section of the fifth column- two more little squares and he'd be done. He did pictures much like he did puzzles- he began at one corner and worked off that until he had the complete picture. It wasn't too hard, since they were just children's puzzles, but he wouldn't put together pieces he could see went together until they connected to the bigger picture. 

If he didn't get halfway down the picture, though, Dave might have an actual tantrum on his hands.

 

If it was possible for the gait to someone's walk to be smug, Dave's was as he left the kitchen, repressing a smirk as he walked towards his little brother. Although when the child asked for one more minute Dave's smugness faded, what was the right thing to do here? Dirk had been displaced from the hospital into an entirely new environment and Dave didn't want to upset him, leave him with negative thoughts of the apartment before he'd even spent a night in it... The man let out a sigh, "Come on, Little man..." He tried not to groan, he didn't want to be guilt tripped by an 8 year old, that was just sad. 

"Don't make me be an assho-" He paused when he noticed the way Dirk was colouring, Roxy sure as shit didn't do that. His brow creased for a moment and Dave remained otherwise stoic. "You're just gonna finish that quadrant right?" He asked, his voice saying that if Dirk tried for any more Dave would be an asshole and just say 'no'. "Yeah, okay little man, be quick, Lalonde's cooking for us and its not cool to keep someone waiting when they do something nice for you." 

Glancing at Rose with a frown, if Dirk was OCD Dave didn't want to 'trigger' the kid, but that wouldn't be too surprising considering the way growing up in a bunker might have psychologically affected Dirk... Dave would talk to her about it later. "Think you could put the colouring book away before we eat, whilst I get the little man cleaned up?" He asked his sister, aka, take a god damn peek at this french fucking fancy, Lalonde. Monet would be... fucking confused. That's right Dave knew painters... and film makers, and writers he had to he was in essences an art student. And he'd thought he was straight...

 

Dirk frowned again at the request, shaking his head. He pointed to the quadrants he had figured out in the line he wanted to finish, pointing to them before looking up at Dave again, a silent request. 

He wasn't used to being told no, not really by any of the nurses. They couldn't let him go out, but he didn't want to. They gave him food, even though it was kind of gross. It was hard to say no to someone who didn't really ask for a lot- but Dirk didn't know he could ask. And not speaking was making it hard too. But in any case, this is probably as close to asking as he's gotten so far, and it's not so much of asking as a warning- he wants to finish this line, and there's not really anything Dave can do to stop him, right?

Well, there was plenty of things, but Dirk was brand new to the scene and didn't know all of them yet. What he did know was that he had to keep going, and when he finished his block, he moved on to the next one so he could finish out the row. 

Rose moved over, looked at the way Dirk was colouring, and seemed interested. It made sense, in a way. A child who had to solve a lot of physical puzzles growing up, who's survival depended on working through problems. This was just the way Dirk's mind worked through things, she guessed. Start somewhere, and build off of that. While this was most children's strategies, they usually started with the focal point and moved out, build a base and continue. Dirk was more literal than that, it appeared. 

But she wasn't here to psychoanalyse her brother, and she looked up to Dave to silently ask what he wanted to do when Dirk kept colouring. She could only provide so much insight, and she was horribly biased. She knew that while she could offer parenting advice, she couldn't really look at Dirk objectively, and this was in Dave's hands as to how to continue

 

Dirk shook his head and Dave sighed, he didn't want to be the bad guy, especially not on Dirks PROPER first night back with him. Ugh. He looked at Rose over the top of his shades and very nearly asked her to tell him to stop but he couldn't and he knew that, his eyes screamed 'fuck'. Dave's heart melted at all of his little brothers new found joys and he didn't want to be the source of any of the younger's pain or upset but if he didn't start setting rules now he never would and Dirk would grow into a brat... 

"Come on little man, please don't make me the bad guy if you put it all away now then you can come back and colour after you've eaten. If you don't then you won't be allowed to finish this before bed tonight." Dirk seemed determined to continue and Dave seemed to become more stoic in situations he didn't want to be in. "Okay, little man. Not cool." 

Dave suspected Dirk had the capacity to be just as volatile as Roxy when he didn't like something so with that he quickly raised Dirks wrist so that he couldn't draw any more and pulled the colouring book away and out of reach. His grip wasn't hard but it was firm, a normal well nourished child didn't have a hope of pulling out of the mans grip until Dave took the crayon out of Dirks grip too and let go, quickly scooping up the others to put them away.

Maybe getting physical was wrong? Dave didn't know, he knew taking a sword to Dirk would be wrong but when he refused to follow Dave's requests was their something else Dave should do? He could just let Dirk carry on drawing, eat with Rose and not bother making up a plate for the child, letting him go to bed without dinner, but that wasn't the way Dave wanted to raise Dirk. He was worried about the child's nutrition enough as it was. So simply removing the toys from the child seemed like the easiest situation. 

Putting the crayons back in the box out of Dirks reach Dave spoke, "Come on dude we're going to wash up before dinner, if you're good you can have these back." An ultimatum... Roxy didn't like those either. Roxy really was Dave's main point of reference for raising a child but he also understood Dirk was VERY different than most children his age, and this adjustment period wasn't going to be easy.

 

Dirk was extremely quiet as Dave took away the book and crayons. He was upset, he absolutely wanted to go and draw some more but it was Dave and it was frustrating. He ended up red-faced, near tears as he saw Dave scoop everything up- he had them in a line, they were in the right order and the best color lineup so he could do things quickly and now it's all gone and it's going to take so much longer. 

What really started things off was when Dave talked about moving again, trying to get him to go along. He shook his head, staying curled up right where he was. He needed to finish it, but he needed Dave to leave, but he didn't want Dave gone. It was wrong, this whole thing was wrong and he felt like he was going to...to scream. He wanted to scream and he couldn't and he was awful. 

This was absolutely a fucking mess, and Rose could see that. She didn't know much about child psychology besides what little she'd learned in college and what her friends would speak of, but she did have an idea to help people with anxiety. The best idea was probably to just give him something else to do, but Dirk was frustrated and wouldn't be able to tell him what to do would help, so this wasn't going to be a good time to tell him. Especially not with Dirk in range to hear, and Dirk defying Dave now. 

All in all, this was going to be a hard time, and all she could do right now was give Dave a pat, grab the things to take them out of view to attempt to help, and go make sure the veggies weren't going to burn.

"Call me if you need me," she whispered as she passed, obviously pitying the man but having nothing else she could contribute without taking away from Dave's authority and fucking things up here.

 

Dave glanced at Rose out of the corner of his eye as she took the crayons and colouring book a silent 'thank you' she'd received countless times after rescuing him from social situations he couldn't manage, like when strangers or class mates had touched him in college without warning or permission, Dave just tensed up and his mind ran at 100mph wondering what they intended to do next. He still tensed under strangers touches but understood that most of the time he didn't need to throw them off him.

Dirk looked ready to cry and Dave just offered him a hand, "Come on Dirk, we'll was up and eat and then we can do a little drawing again before bed, I'll even draw with you." He offered but the promise of the future rarely meant much to a child and with a sigh Dave just nodded, "Okay dude, we're going to the bathroom now whether you like it or not, but I guess you're going to make this shit as easy as a fucking journey to throw a ring in a volcano, we'll escape all spider bitches by flying on a massive god damn owl though, it might not make a good book but it'd make some fucking sense, come on Dirk." He reached down and picked the stubborn child up, his tone was calm, absent of the usual humor involved in his ramblings but soft, he didn't want Dirk to cry. He didn't want to HAVE to carry Dirk to the bathroom he didn't want any of this, but he wanted to look after Dirk even if the child didn't appreciate it.

Dave picked Dirk up under his arms and began carrying the child down the hallway out of the living area, past Dirk's future bedroom and towards the bathroom. Dave's bedroom was at the end of the corridor across from the bathroom, Dirk's or rather the studio was next to it and then there was a water closet/ storage cupboard next to it before space was carved out for the living area. "I know you wanna draw little man but I'm trying to be a good adult here, will you listen to me like an adult in the hospital?" He asked hoping Dirk would listen to an explanation, a pretty big hope considering he was eight.

 

Yeah, that unfortunately wasn't going to really happen. Dirk struggled as soon as Dave picked him up, and he was definitely crying. He resorted to trying to push against Dave's hold, but he couldn't really do much. No child could easily escape an adult, but certainly not an underfed child. 

It was a silent fit, but it was still a fit. He couldn't scream at him, but he could glare as he tried to wiggle out of his hold. The frustration of the unfinished picture, not being able to escape and not being able to face Dave and sign or write or anything just mounted. He couldn't speak to the other and he couldn't sign and he didn't want to wait and spell and this was awful. 

He went limp, quickly exhausted from crying and fighting- far quicker than a normal child, one might notice. But as soon as Dave let go of him, even for the moment, he was off. 

He didn't know the place well, but he did want to get away. He ended up opening and them closing himself in the storage closet, fitting his thin frame against a corner and slumping down.

Rose winced when she heard a door slamming, knowing that wasn't Dave's thing at all. She had taken the food off the stove and peaked down the hall, making sure everything was alright.

 

Dave didn't struggle to carry Dirk at all, his bony hits and squirming making Dave's heart sink but he had to put his foot down he couldn't let Dirk get away with everything. He wanted Dirk to be happy and him thrashing and sobbing silently, red in the face from a scream that no one could hear. 

Dirk ran and the thought of chasing him like some kind of assailant made Dave feel sick. He didn't run after the child there was nowhere for Dirk to go. His shoulders dropped as his gaze followed the fleeing child, oblivious to Rose for a few seconds as he just watched the closet door. His head tilted up as he saw his sister his lips a flat line. What did he do? Just let Dirk hide and come to him? He didn't want to leave Dirk alone though. 

Slamming doors was most definitely not Dave's thing, despite his love of loud people and affinity to ramble Dave never made much noise around the apartment. He didn't slam doors or make heavy footsteps so it was no surprise Rose knew something was wrong. He picked his shoulders up and nodded at her swallowing the lump in his throat and approaching the closet door and slowly sitting down next to it. 

"One thing people do when they cant talk through a door is knock once for yes." He knocked once, "and knock twice for no." He knocked twice. "Do you understand Dirk?" Dave asked unsure of whether the child would respond to him or not.

 

Rose felt awful for her brother. She knew that Dirk was going to be difficult, and she knew it was going to be hard on Dave as he readjusted, but. Seeing it was completely different from knowing it. Dirk had grown since they'd last seen him, had new mannerisms and ideas that they had no way of shaping in the time he's been gone and that was going to be rough.

Especially when what Dirk went through was like a completely different world. Breaking through to that, communicating with him and finding out what he wanted or needed wasn't going to be an easy thing sometimes. 

She just gave an encouraging smile, hoping that helped somewhat but knowing it didn't. 

Dirk sniffed from inside the closet. He stared at the door for a long moment, unsure as to whether he wanted to go up there and knock back or not. He wanted to be away from Dave, away from everyone for a minute. But he didn't want Dave gone like last time either. 

It took a hot second, but he eventually crawled up and knocked back on the door- once for yes. He wasn't happy about it, but he also didn't want Dave to leave if he didn't respond.

 

Dave took a deep breath when he heard his little brother knock. His hand had been planted on the floor ready to push him back up to join Rose, he didn't want his sisters pity but maybe a hug wouldn't be so bad, after the absence of it in his childhood, much like Dirk, Dave found a supreme comfort in physical contact with others, it was why he liked John and Jade so much the two goofballs had almost no hindrances with physical contact once they got to know you. 

Thinking Dirk was just going to cry and sniffle inside the closet broke Dave's heart, at least this way they could have some kind of a conversation. "Okay. Dope." Dave cringed this was painful even for him. "I'm going to tell you some shit little man and you can decide what you want to do after, but I need you to understand me before you start hating me." He paused, "Okay?" He waited for a response before eventually continuing.

"You know how I spoke about good and bad adults Dirk? Well I'm trying to be a good one for you. I know you don't think that because I stopped you colouring but sometimes good adults have to stop you doing things you like for the things you need to do." He explained, "And people are going to be checking up on us and making sure that I'm a good adult to you from the hospital because they want to make sure your safe, and if they think I'm being a bad adult to you they might not let me stay with you because they think another adult could take care of you better. They'd be wrong, but I want to be a good adult to you anyway because you deserve one." He let that sink in before continuing.

"I stopped you colouring because Rose made us dinner, she didn't have to but she wants to welcome you home just like me so she was really nice and she did. And if I didn't ask you to come wash up and eat with us I'd be a bad adult by letting you be rude and not eat what Rose made us, but you wouldn't listen to me so I had to be a good adult by making you do it even if you didn't want to- because if the people from the hospital think I'm being a bad adult and not raising you to be polite, that's the opposite of rude Dirk, then they might not let me be YOUR adult. And people like you more if you're polite, remember how all the nurses smiled at you once you started saying please and thank you?" He coaxed the child but he'd spoken enough. "So do you understand why I want you to be polite to Rose and eat what she made for us?"

No matter how much he explained he felt he was just going around in circles. "Okay, little man, I'm going to go and wash up and eat with Rose, you can stay in there if you like." He stood up and began walking towards the bathroom to wash his hands glancing at Rose to see if he'd done okay or just spoken too much for an eight-year-old... He had a habit of talking too much, but it didn't matter as he went to carry on as he'd informed the child.

 

Normally, Rose would vote that less is better for a child. However, it was such a crap shoot on what Dirk could and couldn't pick up on and didn't and didn't understand that Dave speaking at length was probably good. Especially since he tended to reiterate his points in different ways for the child. If Dirk didn't understand something, he could most certainly pick up on another example Dave gave and still get it just as well without missing anything much. 

Right now, he was thinking about staying in the closet for a little longer. A little longer turned out to be two or three minutes- suddenly, being alone felt like an eternity. Was that what it'd always been like? 

Dirk didn't know, but he eventually came out of the closet and went straight to the bathroom- obviously looking for Dave. He was still upset when he found him, face a mess and fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, but he latched onto the man's leg quickly. 

Dave was a great adult- why would anyone take Dirk away from him? Dirk didn't want to be with anyone besides Dave. Sure, hanging out with Jade or Rose for a little bit was fun, but he wanted Dave to come back all the time, like he did in the hospital. 

The idea that some adults could just up and decide where Dirk was going, despite the fact he belonged with Dave, was a new and scary concept. They were just as bad as the bad adult that took in somewhere he didn't belong in the first place, right?

 

Dave had just finished washing his face in the basin when Dirk showed up, Dave was just trying to calm down with the cool water until he heard the shuffling of little feet, which was a blessing because with the towel pressed to his face he might have freaked out at the random feeling of something grabbing his leg. Not that most children could do silent like Dave. Pressing his shades back in place Dave sighed and pet Dirk's head as he felt the child at his leg. At least he hadn't had to label every door as he left Dirk in the cupboard as he went to sleep.

Picking Dirk up from off his leg Dave smiled softly balancing the child on his waist and kissing Dirk's forehead, "Hey little man, you still mad at me?" He asked repressing the coy smile that suggested he knew the answer was no. "Want to wash up and eat with me and Rose?" He mused, "Come on let's blow your nose, and wash up before eating, you're all gross and snotty from crying." He teased setting Dirk down again and kneeling on one knee to be on the other's level as he took a few sheets of toilet roll and offered it to the child, "You know how to blow your nose?" He asked not sure what Dirk had done when he'd gotten sick in the bunker.

 

Dirk shook his head when Dave asked if he was still mad. He was sort of still mad, truth be told, but he wasn't so mad that he wanted Dave to go away forever. He still really wanted to finish his picture, do it exactly half, and it was bugging him, but what bugged him more is that idea that some people could come in and decide to take Dirk away again.

He looked confused when Dave asked him about blowing his nose. He took the toilet paper and things cleared up a little bit, though. Did he know the action? Yes. Did he know what it was called? Absolutely not. It was a ridiculous thing to say, if you asked him. 

He offered a little smile afterwards, though, as Dave helped him get high enough to wash his hands. It looks like Dave might have to invest in a stool for the kid, but for now, they had this whole thing worked out.

 

Dave would add a stool for the other to his shopping list for the child - the rent was going to be a crunch this month but thankfully Dave had been saving so he could still afford to get everything Dirk would need. Considering Dirk wasn't ready to go out to a shopping centre yet he'd go online with Dirk either tomorrow or the day after with Dirk and let him pick out the bed and other things he wanted online and if they couldn't get it delivered Dave would have to go and get it himself or maybe ask a friend to do it so that Dirk could stay home.

Dirk cleaned up, Dave splashing a little cool water on the child's tear-stained cheeks, he offered Dirk his hand as he led the smaller Strider out of the bathroom back towards the hall. "So, will you be polite for me and say sorry for not coming to eat to Rose?" He asked like she couldn't obviously hear them as they walked back towards the living area. Dave guiding Dirk towards the lounge and coffee table so that they could eat around that. Should he get a dining table? Nah there wasn't really space for it and he preferred sitting at the coffee table, it was more chill.

 

Dirk nodded as his brother asked him to apologize. He winced a little at the cold water being splashed on his face, but just because it was so cold. It felt pretty good against his hot cheeks, though, and the water was more effective than just rubbing at his cheeks like he had been. 

As they walked out to the living room, Rose was plating three dishes for them, grabbing out drinks. Just busying herself to keep her from going and interfering. It was hard, really, watching them and not stepping in. It wasn't her place, Dave was doing an amazing job. Sometimes, though, she just wanted to step in and fix it all instantly. That was hardly ever the answer, though, so she was more than relieved to see the two. 

Dirk moved ahead of Dave and away from the living room to go and tug at her skirt to get her attention. Rose kneeled down to be on his level, giving him her attention. Dirk didn't often ask for people's attention besides Dave, and she wanted to make sure he knew what he had to say was important. 

He signed "sorry", looking somewhat bashful. Still, he refused to hide behind his brother while he did this, especially with Rose. He got a smile in return. 

"Thank you for your apology, Dirk. All's forgiven. Now, how about you take a seat next to Dave and I'll bring us all out something to eat?"

Dirk wasn't too awfully hungry, what with the snacks from before, but the kitchen area smelled good.

 

"Dope, Little Man." Dave stated, watching with pride as Dirk went and apologised to Rose. There was no real harm done, except to everyone's stress levels, but it was good to get Dirk in the habit now, lord knows how socially inept Dave could have been without his internet friends teaching him how to interact having actually been a surprisingly quiet child in school. He told himself it was because nobody was cool enough to be on his level but as a matter of fact, Dave hadn't known how to talk to most kids other than a few highschool girlfriends who were a bit too into the stoic brooding types those girls and a few drunk kisses with guys that Rose had fucking loved to rip Dave up about. 

"Yeah, come on dude, you did a great job, thank you. Come on down and sit your plum ass down I've got you a pillow and everything, the queen of England doesn't have that honour dude. She'd be like 'kind sir let one park my withered bottom upon thine pillow' and then we'd just throw a tea bag at her and say how dare you speak such sacrilege in the house of Strider, that shit's Dirk's." Dave rambled as the child made his way over, Dave having set up pillows for the three of them.

Once Dirk had decided whether he was sitting next to or across from Dave the guardian began talking again, because Rose was busy and what else was Dave going to do if his sister wasn't around to heckle?"And in the house of Strider we've got some affairs to get in order. You know what a fist-bump is Dirk? You ball up your hand like this-" He made a fist. "-And just bump it against somebody else's so you offer it like this-" He moved his fist towards Dirk, "-And just bump it, go on." He encouraged. Giving Dirk his first fist-bump Dave could have smiled all night. Of course, he'd gently done it with Dirk as a baby but now the child could actually reciprocate. "Now that's a sign of respect and thanks, Dirk, and I'm fist-bumping you because you just did something really cool and I respect you for it, Little Man. Okay?" He patted Dirk's hair softly, "I'm proud of you dude, thanks." He stated waiting for Rose to finish, ordinarily, he'd help but for the moment he was more preoccupied with Dirk.

 

Dirk, of course, chose to sit next to his guardian. Despite being mad at him, Dirk was more frustrated with the situation than anything. Of course, that didn't really help the child, seeing as he often didn't see it like that. He was upset, and there were so many easy things around to take his anger out on. He'd have to do a bit of growing up to get to that point of reflection to see where the anger was actually coming from.

For now, though, he fist-bumped his brother and smiled when he got a compliment, glad to be safe and happy for a little bit. This was...good. This feeling, right here. Rose brought over food and sat across from her brothers, fixing Dirk a plate. It was basically second nature, with how often she did it for Roxy. 

Watching the boy eat was interesting, though. You could tell in an instant if Roxy did or didn't like anything. She was so expressive, always with seemingly exaggerated movements. Dirk was quite the opposite. 

Of course, he's probably never tasted anything like this before. Simple, sure, but still new. He chewed slowly and looked at the plate for a long time before taking another bite. A few things he knew he liked. Candy, anything sugary-sweet like that. Most children liked those sorts of things, though. The salty, buttery things like popcorn. 

This wasn't like either of those. And it wasn't like the purposefully bland dishes of the hospital that anyone could choke down without issue. He ended up taking another bite, though, then another. Apparently, it passed whatever standards he had.

 

Dirk sat next to him and to say that Dave was happy would've been a grotesque understatement. Dave observed both his siblings as they interacted, watching how Rose portioned and arranged Dirk's plate, even if it was just vegetables Dave hadn't exactly ever had home cooked meals as a kid so Rose was his best reference. He made idle conversation as they began to eat, watching to see if Dirk liked it or not much like his sister.

The stoicism seemed to be nature rather than nurture when it came to the Strider's, but that was fine, Dirk slowly ate and Dave smiled to himself before doing the same. "What time do you think you guys are going to turn up tomorrow?" He asked his sister so he could be up and ready for Roxy and Kanaya's arrival. There was only an hours time difference between Texas and New York so Dave wasn't too worried about his little sister and jet-lag but it was good to know so he could prepare Dirk. 

"Are you looking forward to meeting Roxy and Rose's girlfriend face to face tomorrow, little man?" Dave asked looking at the kid with obvious adoration. He felt guilty as shit for Dirk crying but watching the little guy now, scars and all, Dave's heart swelled.

 

"After lunch, if that's alright. I'll let you handle getting Dirk something to eat, and we'll get Roxy fed, and then bring all of us over here. That'll give us time to take Roxy out to play for a bit so she can burn off some energy as well."

Rose knew perfectly well that Roxy was energetic as anything. She also knew that Dirk, poor thing, never really had much to do with his energy, and his diet probably didn't leave him feeling like doing much. 

Dirk nodded, though mostly it was at Dave's tone. He wasn't sure he was too excited to bring more people into this equation, but he was positive that Dave and Rose seemed excited about it, and he liked them, so it had to work out, right?

 

Nodding Dave shoved a forkful of veggies into his mouth. "Yeah, maybe I won't give her sugar until you guys leave." He stated trying not to sound smug at the plan to have Roxy bouncing off the walls as Rose and Kanaya took her back to the hotel. Suck it, Rose. 

"Dope, I know they're going to love you just as much as I do." He stated, "Roxy is like a lot of kids your age, you know how excited you got at all the toys Jade brought you? Roxy's like that all the time, she can't help it, but she means well when she's like that. If you don't like anything she's doing just ask her to stop and hopefully she will, she's very kind but stubborn, like you, if she goes too far you just come sit with us and we'll tell her to chill. Which she'll probably find quite hard having just found out she has another super cool big brother to look after her."

"We can practice some more sign language in the morning, little man, that way soon the two of you will be able to speak to one another with your hands until we get your voice back, right Airel?" He teased ever so slightly, knowing Dirk was still a little tender but wanting to lift the child's spirits.

 

"You will do no such thing, David."

Rose was quick to speak, looking up at him and pointing her fork threateningly. There were plenty of ways to make cutlery look dangerous, but Rose like to think she'd found the best, perhaps most efficient way. It was all in the accompanying look, in her own opinion. 

The right opinion, she'd say if questioned. 

The thought of dealing with that was a lot, to Dirk. Or dealing with anyone. But she was family, and that was actually starting to mean something. He didn't like the thought of someone as excitable as that, but he'd give it a shot. 

Despite all the...apprehension? Excitement? Dread? Some combination, Dirk perked up at the nickname. 

He eventually finished picking at his food, tugging at Dave's sleeve once he was done and pointing over to where the art supplies had been.

 

Leaning back a little Dave raised his hands in surrender face stoic. Now he was definitely going to give Roxy chocolate... if he had any, did he have any? Yeah, he still had that chocolate bar he'd brought for Dirk in his bag, shit. Eh, they'd get to all the various kinds of sweets Dirk needed to try later. Now Dave simply needed to focus on sabotage. 

Seeing Dirk perk up Dave smiled the classic Strider smile which consisted of the corners of his mouth lifting up ever so slightly instead of his lips forming a flat line. It was probably a pretty gay nickname that Dave would ask Rose about later but shit, the little dude was Ariel from now on if it made him happy. 

With all the ponies and Disney Dave was a little worried he was raising Dirk to be gay- well no not gay but camp, he knew from conversations with Rose that sexuality was pretty much as encoded as eye colour with a few variations thrown in by surroundings. He didn't care if Dirk did turn out to be gay he just didn't want to be accountable for the shit his kid brother could possibly get for it, God, parenting was going to give Dave an aneurysm by the end of the year.

Dirk finished and pointed towards the art supplies and toys and the corners of Dave's lips flattened out again. He didn't exactly want to give Dirk the colouring book again in case he wasn't done by bedtime, then again Dave wasn't even going to attempt putting Dirk to bed alone given how he'd reacted when he'd woken up so the kid could pass out on the paper.

"Let's make a deal, if you act like an adult and take your plate into the Kitchen like me and Rose then you can colour again, but next time I ask you to stop colouring, or playing, and come eat you have to do it? Okay? I've got to make sure you eat so the doctors know your healthy," After a pause he added, "-and because I want you to be healthy too dude."

 

Dirk seemed to weigh his options. He didn't want to upset Dave- really, he didn't! But it seemed unreasonable to have to leave for something like eating. Still, it meant something in the short term, and that was his focus for right now, so he nodded, grabbing his plate quickly and following as Rose got up to show him where to put it. 

She ruffled his hair, which he tolerated for just as long as was polite before he was heading back to the coloring book, picking up right where he'd left off. 

"You're doing good with him." 

Rose spoke as soon as Dave was finished eating and put his plate away as well. She knew that he probably didn't need assurance, but perhaps he might want it. She was seemingly intent on giving it, in any case. 

Every one raising a child basically has no clue what they're doing. And, well. Some affirmation that you aren't fucking up another human being is always nice. Rose has to admit, as much as she has confidence in herself, someone complimenting her on how well behaved Roxy is never fails to bring a smile to her face.

Dirk's seemingly fairly happy when he finally gets to sit down and continue his drawing. It's coming along quite well, if he could say so himself.

 

Dirk agreed and Dave grabbed the colouring book off the shelf he'd hidden it on before going back to his pillow and finishing his meal. Watching Dirk colour for a second Dave silently stood and collected his plate before joining Rose in the kitchen. 

His lips formed a flat line at her words a sign he was listening before he nodded as though he wasn't looking at his little brother through the corner of his eyes. "Of course I'm a natural, Lalonde, you don't earn the title 'Daddy af' without the natural skill for this kind of thing. Call me Mr Washington because I'm the damn daddy of this state, porno stars are screaming Dave instead of their partners stage-names as their ass is spanked and I'm getting letters from strangers twice my age with DNA tests enclosed..." He swallowed thickly looking at Dirk more obviously instead of the washing up he'd placed in the sink mid ramble. 

"Where's the line between that and Bro though?" He mumbled before returning to washing up. "You going to pick up Rox and the wife from the airport?" He asked wondering how long he'd have his sister around for the rest of the night and when he'd be doing this shit solo again.

"Wanna see what scandal we're causing on the news this time?" He asked finishing placing the last plate on the drying rack.

 

Rose ended up swatting at Dave's shoulder for his rant, something that wasn't uncommon when they weren't out in public and she wasn't absolutely demolishing him at battle of wits. Sometimes, you just have to slap your brother's on and get on with life. 

As it was, they settled down onto the couch, watching the nightly news. Dirk looked tired, but he was determined to finish his picture. Eventually, the boy managed, everything within the lines and nice and neat. He was a little frustrated with crayons as a whole, the way that it was hard to colour uniform with them, but that was okay. It wasn't enough for a complete meltdown, and that's what counted.

When the picture was finished, he stood up, ripping the page out of the book carefully. It took a hot second, trying really hard not to tear the edges too much. Eventually, he managed in a way he was satisfied with and brought it over to Dave. He set it down on the table in front of him, an offering, before he crawled up on the couch as well, between Rose and Dave. He ended up leaning against Dave, falling asleep pretty fast.

He was safe here, between the two of him. And they were warm. Rose smiled, hand on Dirk's back to help keep the child calm as he drifted off. It seemed to work- despite not liking a lot of contact, some human interaction was cool sometimes.

 

Taking the beating Dave relaxed or at least attempted to as the president popped up on screen with a twitter caption beneath him whilst the news anchors avoided talking about some nation wide atrocity he was performing in private, stripping kids from their parents or hiring international hackers to hide his latest social and ethical abomination. Then there was talk of celebrities and some online feud about social faux pas, a warning of a suspected shooter on the screen and finally the 'positive' of the week as Dirk's story was recapped and an image of Dave carting the child out into the taxi was flashed on screen. 

Somewhere on the celebrity feud Dirk had crawled in between his siblings, Dave idly stroking the other's hair as the smaller's breaths deepened with sleep. "Do you think I should keep making press statements and try to ride this wave like 'surf's up' or just set up a go fund me for the little dude's therapy and try to fade into the background?" He asked, there was no way his little brother would be able to avoid the truth of what had happened to him and the eldest was sure that once one of the parents at whichever school Dirk ended up attending recognised Dirk their kids would have no problem making sure the smaller knew his history was a 'bad' thing.

Dave just wished it had never happened but nothing in the world was bad about Dirk in the adult's eyes (Well except perhaps a few dips in his physical health) so he just hoped the little guy was strong enough to deal with it, but he figured he'd ask his sister whether it was worth trying to maintain an air of normality or not among them, before Kanaya arrived that was and the siblings inevitably cranked up their level of bullshit to deal with the fact that there was someone watching them now. Not that Kanaya wasn't great, she was, and surprisingly apt at dealing with their shit from college to now, but that didn't mean that having someone around who wasn't immediate family meant the bullshit anti was ramped up.

 

Rose stopped, thinking about it. She finally spoke as Dirk shifted some, moving under her hand.

"I believe there's benefits to both. But, depending on how quickly the news takes to this, I'm not sure you'll be able to fade into obscurity. This is a sensationalist story, a good time thing that everyone wants to cover. If it dies out in a week, then let it, I think. And if not? Then you're going to have to choose the way the media handles it. It's better to do it that way then have some nutjob try and go after Dirk himself because everyone's starved for information."

Rose wanted to believe that people would just let it die down. He was just a child and, famous or not, she knew this was a lot for Dave to handle as well. He'd been in the spotlight before, but not like this. Not conscious of someone else like he had to be of Dirk. She knew what it was like somewhat, with Roxy, but she couldn't even begin to really compare the situations.

 

Sighing Dave leaned back a little and nodded, that seemed like a good plan. He'd wait and see what happened by the end of the week, if everyone was still talking about it and blowing up his inbox with questions he'd do some damage control. If they weren't then he'd simply mention that donations were welcome on his station and pray the two of them could find some semblance of normality without some desperate reporter turning up on their doorstep. 

"Alright, well I don't want shit to get political in front of the little man," He joked nodding back to the tv where a row of very bad comb overs were sat in succession debating something that had no influence on them. "So I'm going to put him to bed, and shit-" He stated holding up the drawings, "I think it's time to get some mother fucking magnets on that fridge." He smirked at his sister, "I know you love the alphabet ones." 

With that final note, and what could possibly be a threat of bitchy one liners spelt out on the fridge for Rose to be subjected to whenever she visited, Dave gingerly scooped his little brother up into his arms and carried him to bed whilst Rose was left with the drawing. Laying Dirk down into the covers for the second time that day Dave pulled the other's socks and pants off replacing them delicately with pajamas before he took the little guy's shades and placed them on the bed side cabinet next to a bottle of water whilst he went to continue his conversation with his sister leaving the door open a crack again.

The two established a plan for tomorrow, about introducing Roxy to Dirk, times and spoke a little bit more about the future - with continual ribbing involved of course. 

Then at about 11pm the two parted ways so that Rose could pick up the other two off their late flight from the airport and fill Kanaya in on what would be happening tomorrow. So Dave padded back to his bedroom with his little brother in it, and changed into some pajama pants before crawling into bed besides the smaller, so that he was next to the wall. Dirk tended to wake up early so Dave just hoped he'd get a few hours sleep before breakfast.


End file.
